Young Rockets
by fallen champion
Summary: Not everyone in this world was born to be a hero. Team Rocket is conducting its first recruitment drive in years and are looking for young trainers to join their ranks. OC submission closed for now, to be reopened soon. -Story on break till December-
1. Recruitment

**Prologue**

_Not everyone in this world was born to be a hero, someone who thrives in the light. There are those that are better suited to fighting from the shadows. To fight in the shadows, we all have our reasons. Good, evil, these are just terms defined in a book. What we seek is power, we seek power for various reasons. Some for control, others to right their wrongs, whatever your reason we will not judge you. Come forward, join us, join Team Rocket and reach for the stars. _

**XXXXX**

**First and Last Name: **

**Age:** between 16 and 20

**Gender:**

**Hometown:**

**Appearance:** the more detailed the better.

**Personality:** all character traits are welcome.

**Background story:** basically just a little history on your OC and why they want to join Team Rocket.

**Team:** Limited to six Pokémon. No legendary Pokémon.

**Pokémon:** You can give your Pokémon a personality if you want.

**Moves:** four please and must be able to legally learn the move.

**XXXXX**

Here's an example of my OC that I'm going to be using.

**First and Last Name:** Michel Cross

**Age:** 16

**Gender:** Male

**Hometown:** Viridian City

**Appearance:** Michel has natural straight, black hair that is combed back with a strand hanging in his face, trying to give himself a delinquent look. He has dark hazel eyes that appear cold. He wears a charcoal undershirt covered by a blue denim jacket and black jeans with white sneakers.

**Personality:** Michel is hard-working and determined. He has a steely focus and single-mindedness that enables him to strive but also makes him put his goals above everything else, including the people or priorities in life that should come first. He is bold and outspoken although he can be demeaning, insulting, and degrading. He likes to see himself as calm and collected although he does allow himself to get carried away some times.

**Background story:** Michel was born in Viridian City and spent his whole life there. He left to begin his Pokémon journey when he was ten years old. He grew up idolising strong gym leaders and his favourite was the Viridian City gym leader. Michel had travelled across the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, making it the region conference each time but failing to achieve complete victory. In order to get stronger and follow in his childhood idols footsteps he decided to join Team Rocket.

**XXXXX**

If you like the idea of a story focusing on young trainers trying to make it in Team Rocket then submit an OC and hopefully I get enough to start the story soon.


	2. Prologue

**Prologue 1**

The screeching sound of the small, rickety bus braking echoed through the empty streets on the edge of Goldenrod City. The newly developed, industrial district rarely had any visitors especially this late at night.

A young girl, who had gotten off the bus looked around at the street signs, trying to confirm that she had indeed gotten off at the right place, she was clutching a piece of paper tightly in her hand.

She had dark brown-almost black hair tied in pigtails that reached down to her back tied with red scrunchies. As she walked under a dim street light the pink highlights in her hair as well her messy bangs could be seen clearly. Anyone who looked at her would call her a girl of average built but what wasn't average was her tanned skin. She wore a brown long sleeved shirt under a sleeveless fluffy white vest with a brown skirt along with leggings and brown flats. She pulled out a black bow from her back pack and placed it on her head to complete her outfit.

She waited alone under the light of the brightest street light she could find. As she waited she could hear the footsteps of someone approach.

The young man that walked towards her was tall; in fact he seemed to be towering above her. She wasn't sure but he could have been 6'8".

He had messy, dark blonde hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in a long time. He had light green eyes that gradually become a light brown at the outer edges. His clothes were clearly brand new, his white shirt and blue jeans were clean and fresh looking unlike his worn out black sneakers.

Hanging off his shoulder was a large brown rucksack that he appeared very concerned about, even though he tried to hide it.

The young man approached the young girl who became apprehensive and cautious.

"H… Hi, I'm Starky… Starky Green" He tried to introduce himself but was thrown off by the girl's uneasiness.

"I'm not trying to rude but I would rather not give my name away to a stranger." The girl responded.

"Are you here for this?" Starky asked pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket.

The girl instantly recognised it as the same paper she was clutching in her hand.

"So you've been recruited as well. I guess I can let you know my name. I'm Mystery Greenleaf." She smirked.

"Is that your real name?" Starky asked.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Mystery replied cryptically.

The two waited in relative silence, not really wanting to say anything. It was still early, another thirty minutes before the scheduled meeting time. The two then noticed an extended shadow stretch across the street as another young man walked towards them.

It was only when he joined them under the street light that they could get a good look at him. He had straight black hair that was combed back with a strand hanging in his face, it was a very delinquent look. He had dark hazel eyes that appeared cold. He wore a charcoal undershirt covered by a blue denim jacket and black jeans with white sneakers.

"I take it you guys are new recruits as well." The newcomer sighed pulling out a piece of paper from his jacket.

"Yeah, my name is Starky Green."

"They call me Mystery Greenleaf."

"The name's Michel Cross." The new guy spoke.

"I was getting worried that I had the wrong place." Starky admitted.

"No way, this is the right place. I confident I solved this riddle correctly." Mystery stated self-assuredly.

"You have to admit, it was confusing. We were supposed to figure out to come here at nine PM using this piece of paper." Michel said waving his piece around.

'_Not everyone in this world was born to be a hero, someone who thrives in the light. There are those that are better suited to fighting from the shadows. To fight in the shadows, we all have our reasons. Good, evil, these are just terms defined in a book. What we seek is power, we seek power for various reasons. Some for control, others to right their wrongs, whatever your reason we will not judge you. Come forward, join us, join Team Rocket and reach for the stars.'_

"At first I thought he was kidding when he said the location was hidden in this message. I spent a few days looking at it until I found it." Starky laughed.

"It only took me an hour." Mystery boasted.

"It took an entire day before I realized what it meant." Michel added.

As they waited they all looked at their watches as the minute hand inched towards 12 and the hour hand remained on 9. As the clock struck nine PM exactly a long stretch limousine pulled up and stopped next to the young trainers.

The driver got out and rushed to open the door at the back of the limo. A woman stepped out of the back and eyed the kids gathered before her. She wore very formal attire consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt, along with a pair of long earrings and high heeled shoes. She wore her blonde hair pulled back into a bun with two bangs that fall on either side of her face.

She had a disappointed look on her face and was almost annoyed.

"So you're the only ones who were able to figure out that stupid riddle." She sighed.

"Just who are you?" Michel asked.

"I am Agent Domino, head of the recruiting program." The blonde introduced herself.

"I think I should be honoured, the head herself is here to welcome me." Mystery smirked.

"I guess this is really happening. I'm ready for this." Starky gulped.

"More, I want more." Domino said.

"What are you talking about?" Michel questioned.

"I want more recruits. We've lost many of our agents to the police and rival organisations over the years." Domino explained.

"So that's why you approached us. You need us." Mystery theorized.

"That's still to be decided. You've only been chosen to undergo the new and improved training program. If you can survive and complete the program then I will say we need you." Domino smiled.

"So what now?" Starky questioned.

"Now, now you follow me. You three will be the first but there will be others who will be joining you soon." Domino answered.

**XXXXX**

This is just a taste of my writing style. I'm still looking to recruit more OC's to join the New Team Rocket training program. Please use the template and submit an OC if you want to join this story. Thanks for reading, advice and criticism are welcome.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Under the cover of night a small group of individuals trekked through the forest that was east of Goldenrod City. The forest was dense and thick. After they had gathered in the industrial district they were informed by Agent Domino to follow a strange blue haired man into the forest.

With the little light from the moon they could make out dark tree trunks that cast wicked shadows. Overhanging tree limbs cut across the barely visible trail that was snaking through the undergrowth and clumps of bushes. The sound of wind slipping through leaves, creaking tree trunks, the fluttering of wings of unseen creatures and ominous howling emerged from the forest.

This was clearly not a path for normal people to follow but these young trainers were all determined to continue onward despite what they were told was a two hour hike before them.

Currently at the head of the pack following the guide was a young woman with shoulder length dark brown hair that was pulled into a messy ponytail. With no light she struggled to see with her auburn eyes. The lightly tanned girl had an athletic build that showed as it allowed her to easily transverse the terrain. She wore a plain gray shirt and violet jacket with faded jeans and gray and blue running shoes. Her name was Aspen Weathercroft from Fortree City.

Trailing just behind her was a young man with dark brown unkempt hair. He had some freckles on his face and dark brown eyes. Anyone looking at him would say that he was of average built for a sixteen year old but actually he was rather skinny. He wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt and concealed his face with his hoodie. His name was Alex Cross from Mahogany Town.

The third person in the group had distinctive short white hair. He was rather tall for his age and it was this height that made him seem especially thin. He wore grey track pants and a plain white shirt. His dark eyes were dull and uninterested in the current situation; the scorn on his face was from him wanting to rush through this arduous trek but being unable to. His name was Rick Pilot from Canalave City.

Trailing behind him was a pale skinned young man. He had long, waist-length hair that went into a braid with the left side being midnight black and the other side azure blue. His eyes were a crimson shade of red. Defying all sense of logic he was able to trudge through the thick forest with tight leather pants and boots. Even though he didn't like it, he was using a long white tee because off the sheer cold winds blowing through the forest. On his hand he wore black fingerless gloves. His name was Comet Ullysus from Jubilife City.

At the rear of the group was a young man with silver eyes and white hair. His hair was combed in such a way his bangs covered his left eye while the rest of his hair was slicked back neatly. Even though he had a thin frame through his clothes you could make out that he was fairly muscled. As he got further and further into the forest he began to sorely regret choosing to wear a white business suit. He held his white top hat in his hands as the strong night winds threatened to steal it. His name was Hershel Wile from Lavender town.

The group continued onward in silence, forcing their way through the thick forest. The silence was wearing thin on them as the sounds of the forest were intensified in this hush.

"How much further do we have to go?" Aspen complained.

"If you can't handle this simple task maybe you made the wrong decision in deciding to come along." Hershel mocked from the back.

"I think the only person who made a wrong decision here was you, that suit is awfully brown now." Alex sneered.

"You people were all judging me but now look whose laughing. With just water I will be able to clean these pants in no time." Comet boasted.

"Couldn't you people walk faster?" Rick grumbled not impressed with the slowing pace.

"I don't know what your problem is, it would be impossible to rush through this forest at night. We'd only end up getting lost." Aspen complained.

"I think it would be for the better if some of us did get lost." Alex smirked.

"I see. You're scared of the competition kid." Herschel derided.

"I guess in the end this boils down to who will be the best." Rick said eyeing down everyone.

"Domino said it herself, she wants only the best. In time she will see that it is me." Comet laughed.

"You seem to be a bit overconfident; it'll be that much more of a fall when you lose to me." Aspen retorted.

"Sorry to break this to you miss but I'm going to be the one who impresses the best." Hershel replied.

"You guys are looking at this all wrong; this isn't a competition where only one person can win. Domino hinted to it, they want the best, she didn't say that only one of us could be the best." Alex stated suggestively.

"You're suggesting that we work together, I rather not." Aspen shook her head.

"Let's not dismiss the idea just because it came from an unreliable source. He might be on to something. We're the second set of recruits. There are still others who made this trek before us." Hershel pointed out.

"If you guys are proposing some sort of hastily thrown together alliance, then consider me out. I don't know any of you well enough to put my trust in you." Comet spoke.

"Working together with people you don't know, there are pros and cons to this sort of thing. It's not a decision that can be made lightly." Rick said.

"You guys don't have to decide now; we still got a long way to go." Alex sighed.

**XXXXX**

In the middle of the vast, unnamed forest was a large man made clearing. The trees had been torn down and up rooted and the land flattened by powerful Pokémon. The crackling of a fierce fire gave the silent night some sound. Three trainers were currently gathered around the fire, waiting. They were all sitting on logs they cut from a nearby fallen tree.

"We've been here for an entire day now." Starky noted as he clutched his rucksack.

"Domino said to wait here and that's what we're going to do. This could be the first test." Mystery said.

"That blue haired guy said he would be returning with more recruits, do you think he was telling the truth?" Michel questioned.

"Personally, I'm indifferent to whether they find more people for this program or not." Mystery grinned.

"It might be better to go through this thing with more people. The more the merrier, that's what they used to say on our farm." Starky replied.

"That's fantastically naïve thinking. You can't expect to become friends with these people; you can't even trust me or Mystery." Michel warned.

"I'm not a bad person but I'm not a nice person at the same time." Mystery laughed.

"I'll let you guys know something about me. Before the recruiting agent found me I was living on the streets. They promised me a stable life if I joined. That's my reason, not for the sake of being evil. I'm sure there are other people who also joined for reasons like that. I want to befriend people like that." Starky admitted.

"You're too green; if you keep showing that side to people I doubt you'll make it through training." Michel scoffed.

"If he wants to be that way then let him, I don't think you should go trying to change him." Mystery retorted.

"I was just offering my advice, whether he wants to use it is up to him." Michel replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you guys join?" Starky ask.

"I don't know you well enough to tell you that." Mystery responded.

"I'm going to go ahead and steal Mystery's answer." Michel added.

"You're not even a full member yet and you're already stealing." Starky tried to joke.

"You're clutching that bag awfully closely. You've been since yesterday. It's a giveaway that you have something valuable in there." Mystery pointed out.

"I'll guard this rucksack with my life. It means everything to me." Starky declared.

"Those are some strong words; you better hope it never comes to that." Michel spoke.

Before anyone else could say anything they could hear the sounds of people trudging through the forest, they were getting closer.

"This is it? There's nothing here!" Aspen exclaimed as she followed the guide out of the forest into the clearing.

"Is the base underground or something?" Alex questioned.

"There must be more to this." Rick noted.

"Where exactly is this place?" Comet asked.

"I think this may be another test." Hershel theorised.

The blue haired guide then pulled out what appeared to be a modified pokegear and raised it to the sky. The device emitted a high frequency signal. Everyone just stared at him unsure what was happening.

The peace of the night was then broken by the loud roar of a helicopter descending from the sky over the clearing. The helicopter descended and landed in the clearing as the trainers all shielded their faces from the wind and flying debris.

"This is much better." Domino smiled as she stepped out off the helicopter.

"What's going on here?" Mystery questioned.

"You told us we needed to come here for the next step but there's nothing here." Michel added.

"The next step is here. This is the next step." Domino explained.

"You're going to have to give us more than that." Alex scoffed.

"Team Rocket over the years has become a joke. We are without a doubt the richest criminal organisation in the world but yet we've never been able to attain the correct personnel. My predecessor allowed everyone and anyone to enter our ranks; that was our downfall." Domino explained.

"So that's the reason you went out of your way to track us down. You want quality over quantity." Aspen smirked.

"I guess this whole thing was just a test to see if we can make it." Comet nodded.

"You're wrong, the testing hasn't begun. This was merely getting you to the place where the testing will begin." Domino responded.

"So what exactly is our first test?" Hershel questioned.

"Star Academy in Olivine City, what do you know about it?" Domino questioned.

"It's a new private school that recently opened up. It's small but very exclusive." Rick answered.

"I think I understand what's going on now." Michel smirked.

"You're not as dull as you appear." Aspen jeered.

"For the benefit of you who haven't guessed, Star Academy is your training facility. It's the perfect cover for gathering lots of young and talented trainers without arousing suspicion." Domino clarified.

"We're pretty far away from Olivine City." Starky noted.

"That's the whole point isn't it?" Michel sighed.

"You brought us into the middle of this forest to get us lost and now you're going to make us journey to Star Academy ourselves." Comet theorized.

"Very good, there is no time limit but you will be judged on how fast you make it to Olivine City. The rules are simple, travel by foot and that's all. No cars, no buses, no Pokémon. You can work together or work individually." Domino explained as she got onto the helicopter with the guide.

The trainers once again shielded their faces from the wind and flying debris as the helicopter took off.

The group off trainers were all left in their own states of confusion as to what to do next. There were thoughts of was this worth it, ideas of possible team ups.

Nobody really wanted to say anything but everyone was completely weary of each other. All they knew was they had to get to Olivine City and get there fast.

**XXXXX**

There you have it, the first official chapter in the story. I hope you liked it. As always reviews (positive or negative) are welcomed. The coming chapters will be longer as I develop the OC's and introduce storylines. OC's submissions are still open so if you want to join the story, just submit an OC.


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A cold draft blew against Aspen as she slyly moved through the Olivine harbour. Her thin clothes didn't offer much protection against the sea breeze, the tiny hairs on her arms lifted as she rubbed her palms together to generate heat. The brisk, salty air filled her lungs as she plotted her route to Star Academy.

The academy being located in Olivine was not exactly a true statement; it was actually located on the outskirts of the city, nestled perfectly between route 39 and Olivine City. It was just far away enough from the everyday hustle and bustle to avoid unwanted eyes peering into its business.

Aspen grew annoyed with herself as she snuck over a wall and into the academy property. She knew she had lost a lot of time and was probably last.

The property the academy was situated in was massive and fit the profile of a private institution. There were three dormitory buildings on north, east and west ends of the property and a large; two storey building that looked like the main school located in the centre.

Aspen slinked into the school and made her way to the gymnasium following arrows that had been laid out for her. When she got to the gymnasium she saw that everyone else was already there and that there were three new faces amongst them. There were two guys and one girl.

The young woman had lightly tanned skin and long, jet black hair that was curly, but not in a frizzy way. The new girl gave Aspen a once over with her ice blue eyes before ignoring her. She had freckles across her nose and was a bit shorter than average which seemed to show off that she was quite curvy. She wore dark blue skinny jeans, a black tee shirt with an almost unnoticeable dark gray crack design, and lime green converses. She held a green hooded sweatshirt in her hands. Her name was Cassandra Dawn from Celadon City.

The second was a rather pale young man. He had dirty blonde hair that was untidy and messed up; his brown eyes were constantly darting around the room scanning the others. He wore dark blue sweatpants, brown sneakers, a brown T-shirt with a Tan boonie hat. His name was Giles Flynn from Vermilion city.

The third had long silver hair that curled at the ends. His hair was combed in such a way that a portion fell and covered his left eye. He kept his head down not bothering to look at anyone. He wore a grey T-Shirt with the logo of a rock band with black jeans and black combat boots. His name was Chase Graceland and as far as anyone knew he was from Sinnoh.

"You actually showed up, I thought you had given up." Hershel snickered.

"I made it, I had trouble getting here but I made it." Aspen glared.

"You sure took your time getting here; the three who left the day after us beat you here." Alex added.

"Enough of this, you'll have enough time to roast each other later." Domino announced entering the gymnasium.

"You finally make your appearance; we've been waiting for over an hour." Michel spoke up.

"And you'd wait another hour without complaining if I ordered it." Domino retorted.

"So why did you gather us all here?" Mystery asked.

"It wasn't just to welcome little old me?" Aspen smirked.

"I gather you all here to simply explain how things would be working from now on." Domino revealed.

"This is a training facility; we're going to be training. I don't think that needs much explaining." Rick said.

"There's more to the training than we know isn't there?" Cassandra insinuated.

"Whatever training you have in mind will not be a challenge for me." Comet declared.

"I'm going to explain this once so pay attention. While you're here at Star Academy you will be divided into three groups." Domino stated.

"Groups as in teams? I don't need any of these guys dragging me down." Hershel grunted.

"I think I get it, Team Rocket has had some famous teams in the past." Giles noted.

"Truth be told, I was actually hoping for something like this." Starky revealed.

"Team Moltres will be Michel, Comet and Cassandra. Team Articuno will be Starky, Alex, Chase and Aspen. Team Zapdos will be Rick, Hershel, Giles and Mystery." Domino declared before turning to leave.

"I can't be the only one noticing that we're a man down." Cassandra brought up.

"Play with the cards you're dealt instead of whining about them, a friend told me that once." Domino responded. "What you do for the rest of the day is up to you but be prepared because tomorrow will be your first big assignment."

**XXXXX**

The dormitory building on the east side of the property had an ancient drawing of Articuno carved on the doors. Starky, Alex, Chase and Aspen all entered the dorm and found themselves underwhelmed by how ordinary it was.

"Team Rocket is supposed to be the richest criminal organisation in the world. I was expecting more." Alex scoffed.

"It actually makes perfect sense, these dorms seem to be modelled after military barracks, most likely to reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. Esprit de corps refers to the morale of a group, in case you didn't know." Aspen shot back.

"Just because you know some big words doesn't make you better than me." Alex retorted.

"No, my natural superiority makes me better." Aspen grinned.

"Okay, okay, let's calm down for a minute here." Starky said getting in between trying to diffuse things.

"Don't but in." Alex sneered.

"We're supposed to be on the same team, as much as you guys might not like it. We might have to rely on each other's strengths to make it through this thing." Starky spoke.

"Relying on each other's strength? There might be a serious flaw to that plan." Aspen glanced at Chase.

"That's right, I haven't heard you speak nor have I seen any glimpse of your Pokémon. Not even a pokeball." Alex stared.

"That's because I don't have any Pokémon." Chase confessed.

"Let's not gang up on Chase." Starky said. "Wait, what? You don't have any Pokémon at all?" Starky blurted out stunned.

"What are you doing here?" Alex questioned.

"There's no way Team Rocket would recruit you if you didn't have Pokémon." Aspen raised an eyebrow.

"I was recruited because of my affiliations." Chase admitted.

"So this is nepotism." Alex nodded.

"I'm impressed you know such a big word." Aspen laughed.

"Who exactly is your affiliation that Team Rocket recruited you to this program?" Starky questioned ignoring the tension between the other two.

"I don't want to go into details but I was very close to the criminal known as Zero." Chase explained.

"So that's it." Aspen said as she grabbed her bag.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alex asked.

"I'm going to the girl's rooms. Don't even think about following me." Aspen retorted.

"I think you owe us an explanation." Chase spoke up.

"I don't owe you guys anything." Aspen scoffed.

"You owe us an explanation as to why you were last. You called Chase weak but he made it here before you." Starky added.

"I ran into some complications." Aspen said not revealing anything.

"Those complications better not end up affecting the rest of us." Alex stated. "We can't have Articuno failing because of you."

"If anything, you guys should be worrying about whether you can keep up with me or not. That's all." Aspen declared before storming off.

"Should we go after her, what do we do?" Chase asked.

Starky and Alex both realized what would happen in that instant. Chase had effectively ruled himself out of a leadership role by asking to take direction. Whether it was on purpose or by accident, Starky and Alex both didn't know. They both debated the different options to the question in their minds trying to figure out which answer would put them in pole position to take charge.

**XXXXX**

"So this is the Moltres dorm…" Comet commented unimpressed as he entered the dorm to the west.

"It's chilly here." Cassandra said putting on her hooded sweatshirt, leaving the zipper open.

"This place, it's adequate at best." Michel cursed.

"Time to make myself at home." Comet said as he began taking off his shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cassandra shouted putting distance between herself and him.

"I'm just getting comfortable." Comet winked.

"Don't wink at me!" Cassandra scoffed.

"That's strange, it usually works on women." Comet thought out loud. "Must be because you're only sixteen."

"Domino warned you about the whole shirt thing, a guy walking around without a shirt wouldn't be considered covert." Michel reminded.

"You're right. I guess I'll keep my shirt on for now." Comet relented.

"You better." Cassandra said.

"We're behind the eight ball right of the get go." Michel spoke up saying what was on everybody's mind.

"That is a trivial matter; I can make up for that one man disadvantage." Comet boasted.

"I don't know you and on the off chance you are actually that good enough there's no way we can make up this handicap." Cassandra sighed.

"You're awfully negative Cassandra. All we have to do is define a single goal and go ahead full steam towards it." Michel smirked.

"Since we're all going to be on the same thing, you can call me Cassie." Cassandra responded.

"I agree with Michel, if we are going to do something about our situation then we should have a clear plan." Comet nodded.

"I'm going to let you guys in on something, I'm a born leader. If you follow me then we'll have nothing to worry about." Cassandra bragged.

"Oh, that's cute but if anyone should be a leader it's me." Michel sneered.

"I'm the only one of us who is truly qualified to lead Team Moltres." Comet declared striking a good guy thumbs up pose.

"It appears that we have a three way standoff here. I'm caught between a pretty-boy and a very pretty girl." Michel shrugged his shoulders.

"Thank you but flattery will not get me to back down." Cassandra replied.

"It was worth a shot." Michel smiled.

"You two should just back down and allow me to take charge; you can easily ride my coat tails." Comet laughed.

"I guess this is what they call a Mexican standoff." Cassandra said.

"Technically in a Mexican standoff the first to shoot is the loser and the second is the winner." Michel corrected.

"How do you know that doesn't apply to this situation?" Comet questioned.

"You could be misleading us so you can be the second to shoot." Cassandra accused.

"I'm impressed you figured that out." Michel admitted.

"It really is true, we can't trust anyone here." Cassandra cursed.

"We're all here to join a criminal organisation; it should be obvious that we can't trust anyone." Comet commented.

"It doesn't look like we're going to get anywhere." Michel sighed.

"You're right; we can stand here and argue for hours." Cassandra agreed.

"So it's decided, we'll get settled in now." Comet spoke.

The three nodded and walked off to their rooms.

**XXXXX**

The quartet assigned to Zapdos made their way towards their north dorm. As they grew closer, each of them began picking up pace trying to be the first to reach the door. As they got closer to the door all four of them reached out for the door handle and ended up getting in each other's way.

"This is ridiculous." Mystery spoke.

"If you think that, then you wouldn't mind me entering first." Hershel responded.

"I would mind that." Rick interrupted.

"It's not like the first person to enter the dorm would have any special advantage over the others." Giles laughed off.

"If that's the case then why do you still have your hands on the door handle?" Mystery pointed out.

"You called this ridiculous and you're still holding the handle." Rick scoffed.

"I'm not going to budge on this matter; you are better off giving up." Hershel warned.

"I'm used to being too close like this." Giles smirked referring to the fact they were all crammed together reaching for the door handle.

"Even though you all could use some deodorant, a simply bad smell won't be enough to force me away." Mystery mocked.

"You think making us feel self conscious will get you anywhere, you're wrong. I mean look at Hershel, he wears that absurd top hat." Rick sneered.

"You are beneath my contempt you lazy …" Hershel held himself back.

"We're supposed to be on the same team here, we can't afford to start hating each just yet." Giles warned.

"I'm sorry Giles, you seem to have the correct idea about things but I don't work well with others, especially people who insult my top hat." Hershel explained.

"He doesn't seem to have the right idea, it is the right idea. We have no idea what's going on with the other teams, they may be taking to this idea of being teamed up better than we are." Mystery spoke up.

"Articuno is our only threat right now, even as a dysfunctional unit we'd still be able to use our man advantage to beat Moltres." Rick theorised.

"I propose for the sake of future team harmony we all release the handle at the same time, back away and talk things out in a calm manner." Giles suggested.

"I'll count down from three and then we'll release." Hershel nodded.

"No way, I don't trust you. I'll count down." Mystery refused.

"It was my idea, I'll count down." Giles exclaimed.

"We should all count down at the same time." Rick said.

"3…2…1!"

Nobody released their grip on the door handle.

"I knew it, none of you planned on letting go." Mystery scoffed.

"You're still holding on too." Giles shot.

"So that was your plan, get us to let go by pretending to want to promote team harmony." Hershel gained some respect for Giles.

"It would seem that this is going to turn into one of those contests where you hold onto something for a long time to win a prize." Rick chuckled.

"The only difference is there is no prize here." Mystery sniggered.

"We could be here for hours, I hope you are prepared." Hershel declared.

**XXXXX**

Domino walked around the Star Academy property taking in the sights and surveying the land. As she walked her phone began to ring. She pulled the device out of her pocket and when she saw the name Giovanni on the caller ID she immediately answered it.

"Good day sir." Domino gulped answering the call.

"I take it you're at your precious Star Academy." Giovanni responded.

"Yes sir, I've finished dividing the first class into their different teams." Domino replied.

"According to my latest report you only have eleven recruits." Giovanni said.

"Yes sir, that's because we've abandoned the policy of accepting anyone one and have begun actively seeking out recruits." Domino explained.

"This training program you've constructed. It's unrealistic and impossible. I don't think all of them will make it through." Giovanni responded.

"This program is a variant of the same program I went through under Madame Boss. Of a class of thirty, I was the only one to pass. Half failed and the others didn't make it." Domino revealed.

"Ah, my mother's training program. You and Miyamoto were the only ones to have passed that program before I stopped it. You went behind my back and reinstated that training under the guise of Star Academy." Giovanni scowled.

"My apologises boss but it had to be done. We've been lacking agents who personified the ideals Team Rocket was founded on. We require agents whose skills are fearsome enough to defeat enemies without actually engaging them. We require more agents like Miyamoto and myself." Domino pled her case.

"I'll allow you to continue but remember this; I've sunk enough money into Star Academy to buy a small island. You better come through on this; I don't care if there are any causalities along the way. I want agents who rival yourself and Miyamoto." Giovanni ordered ending the call.

**XXXXX**

Another chapter of Young Rockets, I plan to post one chapter every weekend.

Now that the recruits have been forced into teams, things will start getting interesting.

As always, thank you for reading and please leave a review to let me know how I'm doing.

There is still room for more recruits so send through an OC if you want to join in. 


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The current recruits of Star Academy all gathered on the sports field under Domino's orders. They had all changed into track suits provided to them. Team Moltres wore red, team Zapdos yellow and team Articuno sky blue.

"You've all come here expecting your first assignment." Domino smiled sadistically.

The eleven recruits all murmured amongst themselves.

"I said you'd be getting your first assignment today, I didn't specify when today. So for now you're going to be doing a little running." Domino explained.

"You're not serious; it's close to thirty degrees today." Michel complained.

"We didn't come here to run." Hershel joined in.

"It's just a run, it can't be that bad." Starky interjected.

"This is part of your training. To be an elite member of Team Rocket, you'd have to be in peak physical condition." Domino explained.

"If we're going to do this, then let's get it over with quickly." Rick complained.

"If you're so eager allow me to explain how this will work. You're going to take to the track field and run five kilometres. The team that has the quickest average time between its members wins." Domino explained.

"Average time means I have to rely on these guys." Hershel scoffed.

"That's the whole point, it's a team exercise." Mystery retorted.

"You mentioned winning; does that mean we're competing for something?" Giles asked.

"Yes you are. The winning team will be rewarded." Domino smirked.

"So what exactly are we competing for?" Aspen questioned.

"I'll answer that later, right now. Take to field and get ready to sprint." Domino barked.

**XXXXX**

Domino and two men in lab coats stood before the exhausted recruits after their run. Domino had a clipboard with the times of the runners and was clearly not impressed. The vicious sun beat down on the recruits as they gasped for air and chugged down as much water as possible.

"It's too hot." Alex moaned as he poured water over his face.

"It was unnaturally hot; it never got this hot on the farm." Starky coughed clutching a baby Chikorita.

"You…" Chase glared at Starky.

"You better not have cost us." Aspen threatened.

"I'm sorry, I saw the egg hatching and I had to do something." Starky apologized.

"You should have left your eggs in your room instead of bringing them here. That something added five minutes to our time." Alex noted.

The fatigued and weary recruits all picked themselves up and walked towards Domino as she prepared to read the times.

"Zapdos 30 minutes 49 seconds, Articuno 30 minutes 37 seconds, Moltres 29 minutes 47 seconds." Domino said unimpressed.

"Wait, that means we win." Cassandra laughed as she lifted her arms up into the air before falling over.

"It looks like I was able to carry all of us." Comet smirked.

"What are you talking about; it was her 28 minute run that won it for us." Michel scoffed.

"How did we come out last?" Hershel demanded to know.

"Yeah, that guy stopped running to attend to an egg and they still beat us." Giles added.

"It's this heat, it wore me down." Rick confessed thinking it was his fault they lost.

"This heat, it's unnatural. The sun is way too bright." Mystery pointed out.

"I'm actually disappointed none of you picked up on this. We've been concentrating a steady flow of sunny day attacks over the academy since this morning." Domino laughed.

"We could have died from heat stroke." Aspen said stunned.

"If this mild heat wave is enough to kill you then you're not cut out for Team Rocket's Elite." Domino scoffed.

"You said we won something, what did we win?" Michel questioned.

"There are six more recruits coming to Star Academy, however we instructed them to wait at specific location scattered across Olivine. You have to find them and recruit them into your respective teams." Domino explained.

"What part of that is our prize?" Cassandra asked.

"As it stands you have no idea who these people are or what they look like. As the winners, you've won clues to where some of these recruits are." Domino explained.

"What about the rest of us?" Alex inquired.

"The losing teams will have to find the new recruits on their own or beg me for help." Domino smirked.

"So when do we begin?" Hershel questioned.

"You've already begun. You can leave for Olivine anytime you like." Domino replied as she tossed Michel, Comet and Cassandra each a small card.

Team Articuno and Zapdos turned to run towards the academy entrance.

"Good luck trying to recruit anyone covered in sweat and wearing dirty track suits." Comet shouted as he and Moltres ran back towards their dorm which was closest.

Comet's comments were enough to get the other teams to also turn around and retreat to their dorms.

**XXXXX**

Cassandra looked at her clue and smirked; on the card was a picture of books. It wasn't hard for her to decipher it meant library and that's where she was now. The large building was filled with shelves upon shelves all containing different books. There were colourful paperbacks, tomes, dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The only good thing about this boring place was the smell of crisp paper and the fact it was almost too easy for Cassandra to spot the recruit.

Sitting in the middle of the library was a young woman flipping through an encyclopaedia on steel Pokémon. The young woman wasn't even looking at the book; she was still flipping through pages.

She had long black hair that reached her back and an olive skin tone. Her green eyes were dazed and not focusing on anything. She wore a white short-sleeve snap-front shirt under a black quilted trench raincoat with a pair of straight blue jeans and knee-length black boots.

"Hi there, I'm Cassandra Dawn." Cassandra introduced herself with a bright smile as she sat down with the young woman.

"Hello, I'm Cinzia Civello, I'm sorry but I'm expecting someone." The young woman introduced.

"Could it be you're expecting me?" Cassandra asked.

"Listen kid, I'm flattered but I'm really busy now." Cinzia tried to be polite but was losing her patience.

"I'm sorry if I'm giving you the wrong impression, Domino didn't really specify how to approach you." Cassandra casually worked Domino's name into the conversation.

"A kid like you is part of the new Team Rocket program." Cinzia laughed.

"I know I'm shorter than average but I'm sixteen." Cassandra responded.

"I accepted this because I thought it would be a challenge." Cinzia sighed.

"Are you beginning to doubt yourself?" Cassandra asked.

"No way kid, if this course accepts kids then I doubt whether it's a challenge." Cinzia retorted.

"That sounds like something a coward would say when they're backing out because they regret something." Cassandra scoffed.

"Which team are you on?" Cinzia asked with a smirk.

"Team Moltres, the other two aren't much to write home about, but I'm the real deal." Cassandra answered.

"You're not exactly selling your team." Cinzia replied.

"I don't need to sell my team. You're the one who needs to impress me into joining." Cassandra sneered.

"If you're trying to get me to join using that trick it won't work." Cinzia smirked.

"It was worth a shot." Cassandra smiled.

"I like you; I'm interested to see what you do. As of now I will join Moltres, I truly hope you will give me a worthy challenge." Cinzia stared down Cassandra.

"You have no idea what you're in for." Cassandra returned the glare.

**XXXXX**

"There it is!" Giles shouted pointing to a dingy diner.

"Are you sure this is it?" Hershel questioned.

The two were currently in what could be described as the bad part of Olivine searching for a recruit.

"We practically had to beg Domino for a clue and I'm certain the clue leads here." Giles exclaimed.

"Practically? We were on our knees bowing, she was enjoying us beg." Hershel gritted his teeth.

The two entered the diner and were not surprised that the inside matched the outside.

The windows were smudged and not well maintained. The pies left on the counter under glass domes appeared to be a few days old. The tables were made from cheap Formica tabletops with chips, scratches and names carved in them. Behind the main counter was a gum-chewing waitress in a one-colour uniform holding a coffee pot and she was pretty much bored out of her mind.

The only patron in the diner was a tall young man about 6'3. He had a rather thin figure, Hershel and Giles picked up on this. He appeared to be a dirty and grimy fellow, and his clothes were tattered and worn. The short, blond hair on his head was probably the cleanest part of his body, but that wasn't saying much.

Hershel and Giles both approached the young man.

"Are you the guy?" Hershel asked not wasting time.

"I thought we agreed we'd be more tactful about it." Giles sighed.

"I'm Sanus Chinsky; I suppose you're the guys here to recruit me." The young man spoke.

Giles and Hershel pulled up seats and joined Sanus.

"Let me guess, Domino told all you guys we'd be coming to recruit you to our teams." Giles theorised.

"That's spot on, you're pretty smart." Sanus remarked.

"Don't let him fool you Sanus, his only a pseudo-intellectual." Hershel mocked.

"I'm surprised you know what pseudo means." Giles retorted.

"I thought you guys came here for me." Sanus spoke up.

"You're right; recruiting you is our top priority." Hershel apologized.

"Who are you guys?" Sanus questioned.

"I'm Giles Flynn and this is Hershel Wile." Giles introduced.

"We're from Team Zapdos, the all star team." Hershel smirked.

"I'm not bragging but we're the best of the best." Giles added.

"You don't have to advertise your team, I'm in." Sanus replied.

"Tell me, was it my debonair demeanour that convinced you." Hershel questioned.

"Debonair?" Giles burst out laughing.

"In case you can't tell, I'm a street rat. I've been on the streets for as long as I can remember." Sanus admitted.

"I thought you were just an ultra hipster." Hershel responded.

"So what happened for you to end up joining Team Rocket?" Giles asked.

"The streets of Celadon have grown far too dangerous for me." Sanus gritted his teeth.

**XXXXX**

"You go inside." Starky said.

"No, you go inside." Chase replied.

"I was the one who begged Domino for a clue." Starky responded.

"I was the one who figured out the clue meant pool hall." Chase retorted.

"Okay, let's go inside together." Starky suggested.

"This is the kind of place you see on Kanto's most wanted." Chase remarked.

"Well we are part of Team Rocket now, we should get used to places like this." Starky commented.

"When I joined I was hoping for an executive position not field work." Chase admitted.

"We have to make the best of what we got." Starky sighed as he entered the pool hall.

Inside the pool hall were rows of coin operated pool tables each with balls, racks, cues of different weights and blue chalk squares. The pool hall was brightly lit up by lights hanging over each table. There were only a few tables in use by men who appeared to be bikers. In this pool hall a lone girl sipping lemonade stuck out.

She had long black hair that she wore in a pony tail with a red streaked bang that covered her left eye. Her visible right eye was sky blue. She wore a black t-shirt with a red jacket over it with blue jeans and black sneakers that had a silvery trim.

"Hi." Chase said walking up to her.

"Just like I told the last five guys, I'm not interested." She responded.

"It's not like. We're not here to hit on you." Starky jumped in.

"Then what do you want?" She questioned.

"You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Domino?" Chase asked.

"You're the guys who came to recruit me?" She said unimpressed.

"I'm Starky Green."

"Hi, I'm Chase Graceland."

"The name's Willow Daybreak and I'm uninterested." She responded.

"You haven't heard what we got to say." Starky replied.

"I don't need to. My dad was a member of Team Rocket and you guys don't even match up to him." Willow explained.

"I can understand why you would look at us and assume we aren't Team Rocket material but we were chosen to join this program." Chase said.

"You can't consider yourself Team Rocket material until you pass the training." Willow replied.

"We don't consider ourselves Team Rocket material as yet." Starky admitted. "Our team still has a long way to go. We could really use your help."

"You don't even know me and you're saying you could use my help." Willow laughed.

"You said your father was part of Team Rocket, you must have an understanding of the organisation. You could be the difference we need to defeat the other teams." Starky explained.

"Starky is right, the other members of Team Articuno probably won't admit but we need that something extra to put us apart from the other teams." Chase added.

"Against my better judgement, I think I'll join Articuno." Willow smiled sensing an opportunity to jump into a leadership role.

**XXXXX**

Changed back into his regular clothes and smelling like a flower bed thanks to a perfume ambush by Cassandra, Comet jogged through the city park searching for the potential recruits. All that was on the card Domino gave him was a picture of some trees and a pond.

The park was pretty much average with tall trees and well-tended bright green grass. There were park benches scattered all over the place, it was clear people had been moving them around. In the middle of the park was a water fountain that wasn't functional.

Comet spun around trying to decide which one of the many people around him was the recruit. There were two joggers at a drinking fountain, women pushing strollers along and an elderly couple feeding bread crumbs to Pidgey.

Then Comet saw her sitting on bench next to a manicured flowerbed of daisies. She was sitting there with a bored expression on her face. Nothing about her screamed Team Rocket but she did have a Rhyhorn next to her and that was enough for Comet to approach her.

She had dark, mocha brown hair that fell in loose ringlets just below her chin, barely gathering above her shoulder blades, with a few strands tucked away behind her ear. She had light skin that wasn't too pale or too tanned.

As Comet got closer she scanned him with her hazel eyes. She wore a fitting burgundy t-shirt that fell down to her waist with a pair of beige khakis and ratty sneakers. On her head she had a silver headband which she was using to pull back the mess of hair away from her face.

As Comet sat down on the other end of the bench he noticed that she was taller than your average girl, she was practically his height.

"Hi." Comet said trying to strike up a conversation.

"I'm busy now, so can I ignore you some other time." She responded.

The response was enough to earn a laugh from Comet.

"I don't know what you want, but I waiting for an agent of Team Rocket here. I don't think you want to be here when he gets here." She threatened.

"The name's Comet Ullysus and I'm here because Domino told me to find you." Comet twisted the truth.

"I'm Tess Blevins, truth be told I was expecting some one older and scarier." Tess responded.

"Nice to meet you Tess, now let's get back to the academy." Comet smiled.

"Not so fast, you haven't convinced me to join your team just as yet." Tess sneered.

"Domino didn't tell us you new recruits knew about the teams." Comet laughed.

"Well Domino did tell us that you were already divided into teams and you would be trying to recruits us into your teams." Tess stared Comet down.

"What can I say to convince you to join Team Rocket?" Comet asked trying to sound as suave as he could with Rhyhorn giving him distrusting looks.

"No, I've already made peace with joining a shady organisation like Team Rocket. I want you to convince me why I should join your team over the others." Tess replied.

"It's simple, it's my team. I'm the best of the lot and you'd be lucky to be on my team." Comet declared.

"Some would call your confidence arrogance." Tess raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care what they call it because I have the skills to back it up." Comet smirked.

"A confident smirk isn't enough to sway me." Tess responded.

"What if I told you that we won today? We beat the other teams and that's why I was given this clue to find you." Comet said showing Tess the card.

"I'd be a fool to refuse joining the winning team." Tess smiled.

**XXXXX**

Aspen and Alex walked through a busy arcade searching for the recruit. The arcade was packed with youngster spending their allowances on games.

It was filled with rows of machines that had colourful pictures on the sides, glowing screens, toggles, controls and buttons. Neon lights flashed above the claw games filled with stuffed toy prizes attracting people to the rigged machines. The arcade was quite advance with racing games with seats and steering wheels, dance pads, basketball games, air hockey tables and shooting games.

"We've been through this place three times now." Aspen complained.

"This has to be the place; Domino was very specific in her clue." Alex cursed.

"Did you say Domino?" A young woman who was struggling on the claw machine said turning around.

She was a very plain and simple girl in appearance, in fact it was that reason that Aspen and Alex walked passed her. She was fair skinned with freckled cheekbones, shoulders, and legs. She had short, slightly wavy, brown hair with big, brown eyes. Her outfit was plain and simple, being simply a black tank top with a red and black flannel shirt thrown over it with denim shorts and black slip-ons.

"Who are you?" Aspen asked.

"Well, I'm Wendy Heath. The person you stormed up and down searching for."

"My name is Alex Cross and this is Aspen Weathercroft." Alex introduced.

"You want to join Team Rocket?" Aspen whispered trying to confirm that Wendy was indeed the recruit.

"Yes, I've been waiting here for a long time for you guys to show and wow me into joining your team." Wendy replied.

"Wow you? I don't think it would take much to do that." Aspen replied.

"Don't let the plain Jane image fool you, I'm not as pleasant as I appear. Being nice is for weaklings." Wendy retorted.

"You've got the perfect spirit to join Team Articuno." Alex exclaimed.

"Is that all? I suppose I can wait for the other teams to find me here and hear what they say." Wendy sighed

"You could be here a long time; I doubt another team will find this place." Aspen warned.

"If that happens then you'll lose your chance to join Team Rocket and whatever goal you're chasing at Team Rocket will be gone." Alex added.

"So you guys are changing your approach now, saying you're my only option." Wendy caught on.

"It might just be the truth; it possibly could be that we are the only team that knows about this place." Aspen said off handily.

"You guys are perfectly nasty, just the kind of people who will understand me." Wendy nodded.

"So does that mean you're joining us?" Alex asked.

"To climbs the rungs of Team Rocket, I'll need people who understand me." Wendy smiled.

**XXXXX**

"This can't be happening." Rick said in frustration.

"I can't believe we lost him." Mystery muttered.

"I knew we should have followed Comet instead of Michel. There's no way we could have lost Comet." Rick cursed.

"Hershel and Giles need to come through now. We're completely out of it because Domino refused to give us a clue." Mystery exclaimed

The air was heavy with the smell of yeasty dough, sugar and melted butter. The two looked around the bakery they were currently in and grew hungrier as they eyed the bagels, buns, fresh bread, danishes, pies, cakes and éclairs.

"I'm so hungry." Mystery admitted.

"We didn't eat after that dreadful run. Maybe we should get something." Rick suggested.

"Hershel and Giles will tear into us if they find out we failed and ate our fill." Mystery said.

"Then maybe they shouldn't find out." Rick smiled.

"Those bagels look heavenly." Mystery laughed.

As Mystery and Rick gorged themselves on pastries they failed to notice a man in a brown trench coat watch them from across the street.

"You know we haven't got much screen time this week." Mystery noted as he stuffed a bagel into his mouth.

"Don't sweat it; the author will do something about it next week." Rick got out while chewing an éclair.

"Who knew breaking the fourth wall would make me this hungry?" Mystery said as she stole one of Rick's éclairs.

**XXXXX**

Michel wandered through the streets of Olivine searching for the location his clue lead to. On the card was a picture of a cake. He had already been to three bakeries but there was no one at either place. He was beginning to believe that the cake was a lie.

As she struggled to find the location he stumbled on a chalkboard outside of a coffee shop that had a small picture of a cake on it. Taking a chance he walked into the coffee shop.

The powerful scent of fresh brewed coffee, ground beans, sweet warm caramel and chocolate permeated the air almost locking Michel's senses in a trance. The sound of coffee being put a grinder and an employee calling out orders snapped Michel out of his trance. He began looking around searching for the potential recruit.

Behind the high counters were chrome espresso machines, blenders, metal thermometers, jugs of fresh foam and milk. Around the fairly large shop there were tables with people occupying the tables. Michel could feel his stomach grumble as he stared at a snack case filled with cookies, brownies, pastries and cakes.

Then in the reflection of the case he saw someone sitting in the back of the coffee out of place. She was different from all the hipsters who were there and stood out.

She had straight black hair with blue streaks that reached her mid back. She was busying tying her hair into in a ponytail as Michel approached her. As he got closer he noticed her cerulean eyes and fair complexion. She wore a gray shirt with black shorts that reached down a few inches below her knees and black sneakers. On the chair next to her was a dark blue jacket with white horizontal stripes.

Michel grabbed a chair from another table and brought it over as he joined her. When he sat down across from her he saw that she wore a silver ring on each index finger and had a metal sword-shaped necklace.

"I came and sat her in the back because I wanted to be alone." She said coldly.

"You could have fooled me with that inviting scowl." Michel shot back.

"You think you're funny?" She scoffed.

"I think I'm hilarious but that's not the question here." Michel responded.

"Then what is the question here?" She raised an eyebrow.

"The question here is do you have what it takes to join Team Rocket?" Michel asked hoping he had the right person.

"You have no idea; I'm more ready to do this than you'll ever know." She responded.

"That's good, I'm Michel Cross."

"I'm Frizza Xeas."

"Frieza?" Michel teased.

"You're not the first person to make that joke." Frizza sneered.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Michel questioned.

"Domino told us to go to different locations and wait. She said the first set of recruits will find us and try and get us to join their teams. She told us to choose carefully because there's no going back on our choices." Frizza responded.

"I figured Domino said something like that. She never intended this to be easy." Michel laughed.

"So is this where you give me some lame anecdote about why your team is the best and why I should join them." Frizza smiled.

"No, this is where I tell you why you should join me." Michel smirked.

"This seems interesting." Frizza gave him her full attention.

"At Star Academy I'm on Team Moltres and we are only going to be a team for so long before Domino decides to turn this thing into an individual test. Within Moltres I'm offering you a chance to form an alliance with me that will last even after the eventual dissolving of Moltres." Michel offered.

"How do you know it will come to that?" Frizza questioned.

"I don't know. I have no idea of knowing. I'm just focused on end goal of becoming a Team Rocket Elite and that's all." Michel admitted.

"You seem interesting, like a wild Pokémon charging forward without looking at anything else. Tell me why you joined Team Rocket and I'll consider joining you." Frizza replied.

"It's a simple reason, I joined for the power." Michel answered. "What about you?"

"That's my secret and if this alliance does work out then I might tell you." Frizza smiled.

**XXXXX**

**There you go; another chapter of Young Rockets. I hope you liked it. As always thanks for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think. OC submissions are currently closed, but have no fear they will be opened again after a few chapters. **

**How will the new members affect the teams, Moltres are no longer at a disadvantage but Zapdos have fallen behind. All will be revealed next time. **

**Starting next week, the recruits will finally get a chance to bring out their Pokémon and show them off. Training gets into full swing next time on Young Rockets.**


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Much to the shock and chagrin of some, Star Academy actually had learning facilities in the form of class rooms. Today they were ordered to attend a lecture by a peculiar agent. The agent in question had blue hair and wore a black rocket uniform and was going by the name James.

Everyone sat in the fairly large class room, keeping themselves separate from the others teams and keeping to their own teams. They were bored out of their minds as James droned on about Pikachu and why they should be approached with caution.

"Ahem." Domino coughed entering the class room.

"Yes ma'am." James responded standing at attention.

"You've gone off the lesson plan." Domino glared. "You were supposed to be teaching them about reconnaissance."

"I'm sorry; I just somehow drifted onto the topic of Pikachu and got caught up." James apologized.

"Take a break; I have something to talk about with the recruits." Domino said.

James left the room and Domino walked up to the front and scanned the entire class.

"How was your first class?" Domino asked with a smirk.

"Pointless." Tess spoke up.

"If we wanted to study we wouldn't have joined Team Rocket." Hershel complained.

"We have enough idiots in our ranks as it is. We can't afford anymore." Domino scoffed.

"At least get us people who actually make sense when they talk." Mystery criticized.

"That James guy spent ninety minutes telling us about how not to capture a Pikachu." Alex revealed.

"Most of the stuff was kind of obvious too." Aspen added.

"Enough of this, we don't have all day to make complaints." Domino put an end to the discussion.

The recruits all tensed up when they sensed Domino's serious and terror inducing aura grow.

"Today will be a day to see what you can do with your Pokémon. Return to your dorms and have one Pokémon each prepared for training tonight." Domino ordered before leaving.

XXXXX

Team Zapdos gathered outside their dorm, they were currently grooming their Pokémon.

Mystery walked around as her Pokémon followed her. It was a small Pokémon covered in lavender fur and seemed to be enjoying itself in the long grass. It had a red gem on its forehead and a pair of eyes with white irises but no pupils. The small Pokémon had four slim legs and tiny paws. Its slender tail was forked into two at the end.

Hershel remained in the shadows cast by the dorm giving his Pokémon a sort of pep talk. Its body was mostly black, with two eye-like markings and a yellow horizontal zigzag line on its torso. It had a gray, cylinder-shaped head with a yellow band near the top and a single glaring eye with a yellow iris and a red pupil. Rather than feet it had a ghostly tail, reminiscent of a genie.

Rick was busy running around with his Pokémon, playing a game of tag as preparation. It was a small, black Pokémon that had a red left ear and three tail-like red feathers on its lower back. The true strength of this Pokémon lied in its two retractable claws on its front and back paws.

Giles was slowly brushing his Pokémon and feeding it treats which it gladly devoured. It was mostly tawny coloured with a cream underside. It had large incisors that looked strong enough to gnaw through steel. There were three whiskers on each side of its face, which it uses to maintain balance along with its long, scaly tail.

Sanus sat on the grass peacefully as his Pokémon imitated him. It was a mostly blue Pokémon with patches of black. It had short, round spikes on the back of each forepaw, with a third on its chest.

"We're a man down. Hence we're a Pokémon down." Hershel complained.

The Dusknoir by his side seemed to share its trainer's frustration.

"We've already apologized for it. It's not our fault we lost him. It was very busy and he was moving very fast. We couldn't exactly run after him without making him suspicious." Mystery scoffed.

"You guys had the easy job. That clue you got from Domino was easy. She didn't have any clues for us." Rick added.

"I am grateful for this place. I have proper clothes now, a bed to sleep in and I have access to a working shower." Sanus spoke up referring to the team tracksuit and the dorm.

"It shouldn't matter about the numbers. What should matter is the ability of our Pokémon." Giles spoke up.

"My Starlight is more than tough enough to handle anything the other teams have in store." Mystery boasted.

"Don't look down on my Sneasel, if I had a razor claw he would be a Weavile." Rick declared.

Sneasel then approached Espeon. The psychic Pokémon ignored the sharp claw Pokémon and walked away.

"What was that?" Rick asked.

"Starlight hates stupid people and Pokémon." Mystery replied.

"I guess your Pokémon is a really good judge of character." Hershel laughed.

"Let's not start fighting amongst ourselves. I'm guessing we might have to use our Pokémon together as a team." Giles said.

"Giles might be right. Domino did say there would be no more recruits for a while. It makes sense that she would start focusing on team building exercises." Sanus agreed.

"All evidence would point to it. Those annoying morning runs we have to do are team runs, she records our team averages." Hershel cursed.

XXXXX

Team Moltres had gathered on the sport field instead of at their dorm. They had all agreed that a wide open space would be better for their Pokémon.

They all stood in a large circle with their Pokémon in front of them. This was purely a display to show off their Pokémon.

"My Infernape is a pure fighting machine, unmatched in hand to hand battle. Infernape should be leader of our Pokémon for today." Comet declared.

Infernape was covered in brownish-red fur with sections of white fur on its chest, head and legs. On its head was a large flame burning fiercely. It wore two gold chest rings in place of a chest plate with swirl-patterned gold shoulder pads, knee pads, and wrist bands.

"I don't know what you're thinking. My Togekiss has all the qualities of a leader suited for Pokémon." Tess countered.

Togekiss was covered in white feathers and had broad, triangle-shaped wings attached to its oval shaped body. Its underbelly was dotted with the small red and blue triangular spots. The flying Pokémon had very small feet which were close together. On its head was a three pointed crest. The middle point was white, but the left and right spikes were tipped in blue and red respectively.

"If we're considering qualities then my Raichu is in a league of its own when it comes to speed." Michel smirked.

Raichu was a yellow-brownish Pokémon with long ears and feet, and stubby arms. It had two horizontal brown stripes on its back and a long, thin tail with a broad, lightning bolt-shaped end.

"We shouldn't consider speed, we should consider strength. And my Typhlosion is more than strong enough." Frizza retorted.

Typhlosion was a large bulky Pokémon with a collar of fire around its neck. Its face, underside, arms, and legs were a shade of cream, and its back was dark blue.

"Farrah, my Clefable is the only logically choice. She can make the tough decisions your Pokémon can't." Cinzia laughed.

Clefable had a vague star shape with a creamy pink coloured body. It had long cream ears with small brown tips. Its wings were large and had a deeper shade of pink, but they were incapable of flight.

"Golem is better than all your Pokémon, he may have just evolved but he is all ready stronger than most Pokémon." Cassandra exclaimed.

Golem was a turtle-like Pokémon with plated, green rocks as its shell. Its head protruded out of the centre of the shell as well as its short arms and two legs. It had red eyes and a flat snout with two pointed teeth in its lower jaw.

"We could be here all day arguing about how each of us has a superior Pokémon." Michel sighed.

"There's a simple solution, we could settle this with a series of battles." Tess suggested.

"That'll leave our Pokémon weakened and vulnerable for whatever Domino has planned." Cassandra warned.

"Cassie is right, Domino emphasised the fact that we were only going to be using one Pokémon each for this." Cinzia added.

"This kind of stalemate is always going to happening since we as Moltres have no clear form of leadership." Comet pointed out.

"As it stands we are just six individuals. We aren't a team." Frizza laughed. "In order to have a leader, we need to be a team."

XXXXX

In the lobby of the Articuno dorm, the team gathered with their Pokémon. The reason for the closed door meeting was the worry that another team may resort to spying.

"Do you really think that the other guys would actually spy on us?" Starky asked as he played with his newly hatched Pokémon.

Starky's Pokémon had fluffy cream-colored wool covering its entire body, as well as a curly tuft of wool in the middle of its blue head. Its conical ears and tail had a yellow-and-black striped pattern with an orange sphere at the end of its tail, which acted like a small light bulb.

"This is a competition after all. In the end not all of us will become executives." Wendy noted.

Currently rubbing itself against Wendy leg was her small fox-like Pokémon. It had a red-brown pelt, brown pupil-less eyes, hooded style ears and six orange tails. It also had what looked like orange bangs across its forehead as well as locks of fur.

"I don't trust anyone on the other teams. That's not to say I trust you lot." Aspen scoffed.

Her Pokémon stood proudly in front of her. It was covered in white fur with a dark blue body and a ruff around its neck and chest. On the top of its head was a single black oval. It had a scythe-like tail and a sickle-shaped growth on the side of its head.

"I'm sorry; it's because of me we'll be at a disadvantage." Chase apologized.

"We can't afford to dwell on the negative and defeat ourselves mentally before anything begins." Willow declared as she held her Pokémon in her arms.

It was a small, chick Pokémon with stubby, downy, yellow wings. Its body was covered with orange feathers. It had an orange and yellow crest on its head that resembled a flame.

"Willow is right. Since Zapdos is only at five members the challenge will be something where numbers don't mean much." Alex agreed.

Alex's purple, bat-like Pokémon hung from the ceiling above him with its stubby pair of feet. It had two pair of wings with greenish-blue undersides and two stubby 'fingers'. Its pointed ears were long and its mouth was small with its teeth constantly bared.

"I don't know how things are going to go down but we'll need a battle plan." Aspen cautioned.

"Let's do a role call. We have Starky's Mareep, Wendy's Vulpix, Aspen's Absol, Willow's Torchic and my Crobat." Alex spoke.

"If I do say so, that's an impressive team." Willow smirked.

"It can't be called impressive without something to compare it to." Wendy warned.

"Wendy is right, my Mareep is strong for its age but it's still just a baby." Starky admitted.

"Fine, if it comes down to battle, I'll cover for you." Alex stated.

"My Vulpix is the perfect size to stay with Mareep and cover." Wendy uttered.

"No way, I'll cover for you." Aspen declared.

"I clearly have the only Pokémon strong enough to provide cover, size isn't everything" Willow exclaimed.

The four were each trying to establish themselves as the strongest and hence leader of Articuno.

XXXXX

Sanus stood in the kitchen staring into the dorm fridge; he was hungry but couldn't decide what to eat.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to leave the fridge open like that?" Hershel mocked walking into the kitchen.

"That joke is almost as funny as your outfit." Sanus retorted closing the fridge.

"At least I have my own clothes." Hershel scoffed.

"Whoa, let's calm things down a bit in here." Giles spoke entering the kitchen.

"Boss Hogg over here started it." Sanus smirked.

"Why you little…" Hershel muttered.

"Hershel, we were supposed to be having a civilized discussion while we have the chance." Giles reminded.

"What chance?" Sanus asked.

"Rick is currently having a nap and Mystery went on a walk about. This is the perfect opportunity to talk." Hershel explained.

"What do you want to talk about? I don't really have anything to say." Sanus responded.

"We'll do the talking; all you have to do is listening. That's something in your skill set." Hershel jeered.

"As it stands, we're going to get nowhere as a team. If we leave everything up to a group decision we're only going to end up deadlocked every time." Giles explained.

"That's expected as we are five individuals with conflicting personalities." Hershel added.

"I'm following so far." Sanus followed.

"We wouldn't have to worry about that problem if decided to follow majority vote during team meetings from now, provided the three of us vote together." Giles revealed the plan.

"You want to form a team within the team?" Sanus questioned.

"An alliance, coalition, association, whatever you call it. The point is, between the three of us, we can make decisions that benefit the entire team." Hershel smirked.

"Rick and Mystery will be pretty pissed if they find out about this." Sanus warned.

"They don't have to find out, they won't." Giles assured.

"Think about it, but don't take too long." Hershel suggested as he and Giles left.

XXXXX

Aspen kicked the faulty vending machine that was located at the back of the school building. The machine was hardly used so it always had her favourites in stock.

"If you kicked it just a little bit harder it might refund your money." Mystery laughed.

"What are you doing here Mystery, awfully far from Zapdos?" Aspen questioned as her chocolate bar was finally released from the machine.

"I was actually looking for you. I thought you'd be here." Mystery shrugged her shoulders.

"Why would you be looking for me?" Aspen asked.

"Well, you see. I found something very interesting that day we went into Olivine to search for recruits." Mystery smirked.

"Oh, I heard about your bakery binge. I wouldn't call it interesting." Aspen scoffed.

"The owner happened to be a reading a magazine article about a certain girl from Fortree City who was supposed to be delivering documents but ended up committing a certain crime." Mystery revealed.

"What are you talking about?" Aspen asked flustered.

"This." Mystery answered as she pulled out a magazine page from her pocket and tossed it to Aspen. "I take it you didn't tell anyone else in your team about this."

"This information is on a need to know basis, and if you're thinking about telling Domino. She already knows." Aspen retorted.

"I figured that's why you were recruited, for your criminal history." Mystery said.

"I'm not a criminal, I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was framed. I'm here to join Team Rocket and then find the person who set me up." Aspen declared.

"Even if you are innocent, that doesn't change the fact that the cops are after you. That must be the reason you were late arriving here." Mystery theorized.

"You have this information, now what. Are you going to blackmail me?" Aspen gritted her teeth.

"I would never do such a thing; I just wanted to get a feel for you. I do believe you're innocent." Mystery replied.

"Then why go through all this trouble?" Aspen asked warily.

"I just wanted to let you know you have a friend. Someday we might need each other's help in this thing." Mystery smiled walking away.

XXXXX

"That's a really impressive Raichu you have." Frizza complimented.

"Your Typhlosion isn't bad either." Michel replied.

The two were currently walking through the academy main building; the rest of the team had each gone off on their own.

"I was expecting you to back me up today." Michel spoke.

"I agreed to an alliance with you, not to be your personal 'yes' man." Frizza retorted.

"Things aren't going to go smoothly unless we present a united front to the rest of Moltres." Michel replied.

"Moltres isn't desperately seeking out a leader or anything such. You're trying to dictate terms." Frizza countered.

"I'm no dictator. I'm just trying to ensure my own goals." Michel scoffed.

"I've seen people like you before. You don't trust anybody else to get the job done so you take all the pressure on yourself but now that you're forced to rely on others you want me to help you micromanage them." Frizza laughed.

"I like you. People say I've got no taste, but I like you." Michel smirked.

"Oh, a compliment and an insult in one go." Frizza sneered.

"For whatever task Domino throws at us, we should split up." Michel suggested.

"Here, I thought you wanted to work together." Frizza questioned.

"There's a possibility that the others could have the same plan we do. We need to know." Michel explained.

"Okay, I get it. I'll take your friends Comet and Cassandra. You can check out Tess and Cinzia." Frizza nodded.

XXXXX

"If you keep babying it like that then it's going to be weak." Alex stated as he walked out of the dorm to find Starky playing with his Mareep.

"Don't tell him how to raise his Pokémon." Wendy sneered as she came into view rounding the dorm.

"This is between Starky and I, you don't need to be involved." Alex scoffed.

"I've seen plenty of people like you, bullies who pick on people just because their style of training differs from yours." Wendy glared.

"You sound like you're talking from experience. I take it you were bullied." Alex said striking a nerve.

"Hey, guys, come on. Don't fight over me." Starky spoke up.

"This isn't about you anymore Starky." Wendy replied.

"Yeah, this is about Articuno. When I offered to cover for your Mareep, Wendy was the first to challenge me." Alex revealed.

"If I had know you were going to use that team meeting as a chance to establish yourself as leader, I would have interrupted you sooner." Wendy smirked.

"You two are fighting for the role of leader, how sure are you that I'm not a threat for that position?" Starky threw his name into the ring.

"We know the reason you're here Starky, you were pulled of the street with nowhere else to go." Alex explained.

"You see this as an opportunity at life for you and your Pokémon eggs. You might lack the conviction but you will do what it takes to make it here." Wendy completed.

"You guys are good." Starky nodded.

"Not really, you try to hard when you try to make friends. You say too much about yourself." Alex cautioned.

"You should keep some of your personal details to yourself." Wendy smiled.

"If you guys ask me, I think Willow should be in charge. Her dad was an agent of Team Rocket; she has knowledge that can help us." Starky pointed out.

"If Willow wants to, she can try." Wendy said.

"She'll have a tough time against the de facto order that's been established." Alex laughed.

XXXXX

Cinzia stood in the Moltres kitchen watching her kettle boil, in front of her was a cup with a tea bag already in it.

"I didn't take you for a tea kind of person." Cassandra said as she raided the cabinets.

"Tea actually has a soothing effect, I could really use it." Cinzia replied.

"Give me coffee over tea any day." Tess snickered from the kitchen door way.

"I don't think this kitchen is big enough to fit the whole of Moltres." Cassandra joked.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure I saw Michel and Frizza head off to the school." Cinzia chuckled.

"Comet is outside behind the dorm practicing various battle poses with his Pokémon." Tess laughed.

"Whatever you do, don't laugh at his poses or interrupt them." Cassandra warned.

"I think it's a good thing that we're here alone." Cinzia confessed.

"Without Michel trying to assert leadership, things do seem calmer." Cassandra agreed.

"That's not what she meant but you're close." Tess grinned.

"What did you mean?" Cassandra asked.

"The three of us are very similar in some ways." Cinzia spoke.

"I'd love to hear this." Tess raised an eyebrow.

"The three of us have facades, facades that smile and give the world the impression that we're happy and nice. But we know what we really are." Cinzia explained.

"Our true feelings are darker than our smiles give away. We've been shaped by the world and seen what it truly is like." Tess nodded.

"Fine, I'll agree with you. We have some things in common." Cassandra relented.

"The three of us could rule Moltres, and eventually Team Rocket if we worked together." Cinzia said off handed.

"Are you suggesting that the three of us take control of Moltres?" Tess smiled.

"There's no way Michel or Comet would just let us take charge. They've been eyeing the leadership role since day one." Cassandra explained.

"I don't know where Frizza allegiance lies but I'm sure she'll see the light and side with us." Cinzia replied.

"Four girls and two guys, you want to play that card." Tess laughed.

"I see, if the four of us present a united front, Michel and Comet will have no choice but to concede defeat." Cassandra smirked.

"It is what's best for the team." Cinzia sighed.

"Michel is singled minded and Comet let's his ego show too much. Between the three of us we can cover up for each other's flaws." Tess explained.

"Three? What about Frizza?" Cassandra asked.

"Frizza is a loner by nature; it's obvious from how he behaves. A recluse isn't the best person to have in a tight nit alliance. She'll side with us, but we'll be the ones making the decisions." Cinzia answered.

"I've been with Michel and Comet since Moltres was formed, it's going to take more than pretty words for me to betray them." Cassandra chuckled.

"Trust me on this; being ruthless is better than being sentimental. Those two wouldn't hesitate to betray you in order to move forward. You should do the same." Tess warned.

"I'll need time to think." Cassandra gritted her teeth.

XXXXX

All the teams gathered in the auditorium with their Pokémon in pokeballs as per Domino's orders.

"Nice to see that you're all punctual." Domino laughed as she walked in an hour late.

The annoyed recruits could do nothing but grit their teeth and hold their tongues.

"You've all passed today's first test." Domino congratulated.

"What part of that was a test?" Rick questioned.

"In Team Rocket, you're going to have to follow orders, most times without questions. I ordered you all to wait here and not leave till you were briefed. If any of you had walked away, you would have failed." Domino explained.

"You never really said anything about it, but what happens if we fail?" Wendy asked.

"Isn't it obvious, fail and you're out." Comet scoffed.

"Ding, he is correct. Don't fail." Domino smirked.

"I was expecting a big mission today since we had to get our Pokémon ready." Alex sighed disappointed.

"That was just a little teaser, that wasn't your test." Domino sneered.

"So what exactly is out test?" Cassandra asked.

"This will be a test to determine whether you have the mental fortitude to be a Team Rocket executive." Domino said with a devious smirk.

"I don't like that smile she has." Hershel gulped.

"On Route 39 is the MooMoo Farm, which is home to many Miltank. All those powerful Pokémon belong to a farmer who has crossed Team Rocket before. You will leave here at midnight and travel to MooMoo Farm. The team that returns before Three AM with the most Miltank will win, the team with the least will suffer the consequences." Domino explained.

"You want us to steal the Miltank?" Starky began sweating.

"That's exactly what she wants, unless you don't have the stones for it." Tess mocked.

"We'll provide you with special Team Rocket pokeballs for this test. I think this goes without saying but, don't get caught." Domino said.

XXXXX

**Sorry, I didn't post last week. I was really busy and didn't finish the chapter on time. I hope you liked this week's chapter, I did briefly mention the Pokémon just to introduce them as the recruits partners for the coming few chapters. On a slightly sad note, I'm going to be very busy over the next few weeks so the next will only be out 21/22 September. **

**As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review. **


	7. Chapter 5

**Back from writing tests. It was long, painful and gruelling. Anyway, enough of me complaining. Here's the next chapter. **

**Chapter 5**

"You guys know what's going on here right?" Rick gulped as Zapdos approached MooMoo Farm under the cover of night.

"We're going to steal a bunch of Miltank from a farmer." Hershel scoffed as he played with a special pokeball that Domino had given the teams for the assignment.

The top of the pokeball was black with a red R and the bottom was white.

"No, he is talking about who the Miltank belong to." Giles pointed out.

"Is it someone important?" Mystery asked.

"Only if you consider Goldenrod City gym leader Whitney important." Sanus retorted.

"This is a big deal; we're robbing a gym leader." Mystery smirked.

"Not only that, we can expect these Miltank to have received some training from her. This won't be a walk in the park." Rick worried.

XXXXX

Under the dead of night it was nearly impossible to see anything on MooMoo Farm. Luckily for the recruits, the ranch house was quite some distance from the fenced-off green pastures that contained the Miltank. There was close to fifty of the powerful, milk cow Pokémon all asleep in the field.

The teams had all made their way to pasture but none of them had entered as yet.

"Screw this, I'm going in." Comet smirked boldly as he left his team behind and entered the pasture with his Infernape.

The confident trainer walked up to a sleeping Miltank and threw a pokeball at it. The milk cow Pokémon was engulfed in red energy before being absorbed by the pokeball. The pokeball began rolling back and forth as Miltank struggled. A soft ping then signalled the successful capture.

"It's that easy."Comet turned around and gave his team thumbs up as he picked up the pokeball and gloated.

When he turned around he was caught off guard as another Miltank launched itself at him preparing to crush him with a body slam. A bolt of lightning whizzed passed Comet and Infernape, striking down the attacking Miltank.

The pained cried of the electrocuted Miltank, echoed through the pasture waking up all the other Miltank.

"Nice going, now we have to battle them." Michel scoffed running to Comet's side.

"This was going to turn into an all out battle eventually." Frizza laughed joining them.

"This only makes things more interesting." Tess smiled.

"Now we'll truly see which one of us is the strongest." Cinzia challenged.

"Don't forget, we still have to capture them after we beat them." Cassandra reminded.

The six recruits and their Pokémon stood together and held a line as several Miltank charged towards them.

They noticed some of the other Miltank storm off in other directions and assumed that the other teams had made their move.

"Infernape, use fire blast!" Comet ordered trying to regain some pride.

Infernape sensed its trainer's desire and jumped into the air to show off. While in the air Infernape inhaled deeply before releasing a fireball from its mouth, as it travelled, the ball of fire formed into a five pointed shape.

The attack missed but struck the pasture setting in motion a fire that help light up the night.

"How did I miss?" Comet shouted frustrated.

"You didn't miss, the Miltank are just good at dodging." Tess pointed out. "Togekiss, use aura sphere."

Togekiss was hesitant, not wanting to assist in stealing the Miltank but it knew that the situation was dire with them facing so many angry Miltank. Togekiss placed its wings together and created a light blue ball of energy. The jubilee Pokémon then fired the light blue ball of energy at the Miltank striking one.

"Typhlosion, head butt that one that's getting too close." Frizza ordered as Miltank closed in on them.

Typhlosion launched itself slamming its head into the Miltank knocking to back. As Typhlosion pushed away the Miltank another Miltank appeared preparing to body slam Typhlosion.

"Golem, cover Typhlosion with stone edge." Cassandra ordered.

Three blue rings surrounded Golem's body. The rings then glowed white and formed into chunks of grey coloured stones that circled around its body. Golem's eyes glowed green and it fired the stones at the attacking Miltank.

"These Miltank are something else, they're not backing down. They've been trained well. Farrah, Hyper voice." Cinzia shouted.

Clefable sucked in air through its mouth and held its breath. Then it opened its mouth and a blue orb appeared in its mouth before releasing a beam of air filled with blue circles inside of it at the Miltank.

"This could pose a problem; they're using Milk Drink on each other to heal." Michel pointed out. "Raichu, thunder."

Sparks gathered on Raichu's cheek before it released a powerful bolt of electricity at the milk cow Pokémon. The wild bolt missed as the Miltank dodged.

XXXXX

Chase ran through the pasture panicked and in frenzy as he was being chase by five angry Miltank. He was closing in on the designated ambush point where the rest of Articuno were lying in wait. After Moltres had moved in, Articuno was forced to rush their plan.

"Crobat, confuse ray." Alex shouted.

As Chase ran by Crobat appeared. Crobat became outlined in orange energy as a ball of energy in the same colour appeared in front of it. Crobat flapped its wing firing the ball at the Miltank. The confuse ray struck one Miltank causing it to become disorientated and collide with the others as Crobat fired more confuse ray.

"Torchic, flame thrower!" Willow ordered.

The small fire type Pokémon, who packed quite a punch leapt into action opening its beak and unleashing a powerful stream of red-orange fire. Torchic swung its head, shifting the flame thrower to graze all the Miltank.

"Coulomb, let's try out your thunder shock." Starky commanded.

Yellow sparks appeared around Mareep's ears before it fired a blast of light blue electricity from the wool on its body at the Miltank.

"Cris hit them with flare blitz." Wendy yelled.

Vulpix's body became surrounded in light blue flames. The small and nimble Pokémon sprinted like a missile and slammed into two of the Miltank.

"Absol, take out the remaining three with psycho cut!" Aspen screamed.

The sickle shaped growth on Absol's head began to glow light blue. The light blue energy extended the growth into the shape of a long curved blade. The disaster Pokémon ran across field and swung its head delivering its attack on the remaining Miltank.

Articuno then threw pokeballs at the Miltank, capturing all but one.

"This one is tough; we'll have to knock him out completely." Alex said.

"Let me do it. I'll do it in the least painful way." Aspen volunteered.

"Guys, we got a problem!" Chase shouted.

Tearing their way across the field, all rolled up were several Miltank using roll out. The milk cows Pokémon were directly on a path for Articuno and gaining momentum as the approached.

"Absol, slow them down with razor wind!" Aspen ordered.

The scythe on Absol's head glowed white as it swung its head, releasing numerous white crescent blade of energy at the oncoming Miltank. The crescent blades of energy hit the Miltank and shattered, the forced gathered up by the roll out was proving too much.

"Everybody scatter, we're sitting ducks standing in line like this." Willow shouted.

Articuno was in agreement as they ran off trying to divide the Miltank's attention.

XXXXX

"Damn those Moltres, they just had to piss of the Miltank." Hershel cursed. "Dusknoir, use shadow ball at the ground."

Dusknoir opened the mouth on its stomach and placed its hands together in front of it. The yellow lines on its body started to glow gold as a black and purple ball appeared in between its hands and in front of its stomach. Dusknoir fired the attack at the ground creating a hole that was able to detour an incoming Miltank that was using rollout.

"These Miltank are putting up much more of a fight than expected." Rick cursed. "Sneasel, ice shard!"

Sneasel's body became covered in light blue energy. Then the energy began to peel of its body and form blue orbs. The orbs then faded away and turned into multiple shards of ice. Sneasel then motioned and fired the shards of ice at a Miltank.

"We had the perfect plan for a stealth capture and those guys had to go wake up every Miltank." Mystery sighed. "Let's go, psychic."

Espeon's eyes glowed red and the gem on the sun Pokémon's forehead started shining red. A Miltank that was battling Espeon became surrounded by the same red aura and was flung into another Miltank that was battling Raticate.

"No one said this was going to be easy but these Miltank are determined to fight us to the finish." Giles said with some respect in his voice. "Raticate, wild charge."

Raticate charged at the two Miltank as its body became surrounded in bright gold electricity with white static around it, making its body seem golden. It then soared and slammed into the milk cow Pokémon electrocuting them.

"This is becoming tedious. We can't capture the Miltank we've beaten because more come to help them and heal the ones we've beaten." Sanus complained. "Let's use bone rush."

Lucario put its paws together and spread them apart, creating a light green bone of energy. The blue fighting/steel Pokémon then began delivering concise and effective hits to a nearby Miltank knocking it down.

"Starlight, iron tail!" Mystery shouted.

Espeon's tail glowed white as charged a Miltank.

"Dusknoir, assist with will-o-wisp." Hershel ordered.

The markings on Dusknoir's body glowed yellow as it held out both of its hands. Two blue fireballs then appeared in front of them and Dusknoir fires them at the same Miltank that Espeon was attacking.

The milk cow Pokémon that was preparing to dodge the iron tail became burned and was unable to avoid the hard hit of Espeon's tail crashing down on its head.

"Nice one Hershel, I might have been wrong about you." Mystery smirked.

"They've got the right idea. If we're going to capture Miltank and win this challenge we're going to have to battle as a team." Giles declared.

"Fine, I'll battle alongside Hershel. Rick, Giles and Mystery should team up." Sanus suggested.

"Why would we do that?" Rick asked.

"Dusknoir is a ghost type, at a disadvantage against normal types. Lucario is a fighting type, has an advantage against normal types." Giles explained.

"Okay, I'm in. Let's do this." Rick nodded.

"You guys follow my lead; Starlight will take point in the attack." Mystery smirked.

"I think we may have a problem." Rick gulped.

"What now?" Hershel asked annoyed.

"I think he means those." Sanus said nervously.

Close to a dozen yellow, white bellied bipedal Pokémon were charging towards them to help the Miltank. They had conical ears with black stripes and a red orb on their forehead. Their stubby arms resemble flippers and their long, black-striped tails had a red orb at the tip.

"Oh, no one thought to warn us they also had Ampharos on this farm." Mystery cursed.

"We stick to the same plan." Sanus yelled.

"We'll handle the Ampharos, you guys concentrate on the Miltank." Hershel shouted.

Sparks gathered around the Ampharos as they released yellow electrical blasts from their bodies.

"Lucario, aura sphere!"

"Dusknoir, shadow ball!"

Lucario placed it hands and concentrated as it gathered its power into a bright blue ball of condensed and potent aura. Dusknoir opened the mouth on its stomach and placed its hands together in front of it. The yellow lines on its body started to glow gold as a black and purple ball appeared in between its hands and in front of its stomach.

The two Pokémon released their attacks simultaneously at the barrage of lighting resulting in an explosion that was only able to handle half the thunder, the remainder struck Dusknoir and Lucario.

The Ampharos then closed in on Lucario and Dusknoir. Ampharos's paws became surrounded with yellow electricity. The electric type Pokémon tried to punch Lucario and Dusknoir but Lucario and Dusknoir became surrounded by pink energy and were pulled away from harm by an unseen force.

Hershel and Sanus turned around to see Espeon's eyes glowing red and the gem on the sun Pokémon's forehead shining.

"No need to thank me, just hold down the fort on your side." Mystery yelled. "Things are breaking down now."

"Lucario, get serious. Close combat!" Sanus shouted.

Lucario became out lined in a faint blue aura; its fighting nature was being forced out to the surface as it called on its inner strength to obey its trainer. Lucario then charged at blinding speed and began delivering devastating combinations of punches and kicks to the Ampharos.

"Dusknoir, ice punch. We need to show these strangely organised Pokémon who's the boss." Hershel shouted.

A cold, chilling blue energy gathered around Dusknoir's hands as it followed Lucario at a much slow pace and punched the Pokémon Lucario had just torn through. One of Dusknoir's hits was able to completely freeze an Ampharos.

Lucario's brutal assault came to an abrupt end after only four Ampharos. The blue Pokémon began to tremble as its defences weakened. Lucario was then struck with electricity that coursed through its body, paralyzing it, a result of Ampharos's ability static.

A white ball formed in front of the red orb on one of the Ampharos's head. It then fired a rainbow coloured beam from the ball at Lucario. The markings on Dusknoir's body glowed yellow and it held out both of its hands. Two blue fireballs then appeared in front of them. Dusknoir got in front of Lucario and used will-o-wisp to block signal beam.

"Concentrate on the Miltank!" Giles shouted as Mystery's attention was divided.

Giles's Raticate had just intercepted a Miltank that was barrelling in on a distracted Espeon.

"It's hard, when they're in trouble." Mystery apologized. "Psybeam Starlight."

The red gem on Espeon's forehead sparkled before it released a multicoloured beam from it at a Miltank.

"Raticate, hyper fang to finish it." Giles ordered.

Raticate bared its teeth, which gleamed with white energy before biting down on the same Miltank that just took psybeam.

Another Miltank which had been lying down nearby sprung up and charged at Raticate while it was caught off guard. Sneasel used it's amazing speed to get between Raticate and the Miltank.

"Let's go with ice punch." Rick ordered.

Sneasel pulled back its fist as it became surrounded by swirling energy which changed from white to light blue. It then punched the Miltank, freezing it.

"We're going to have to fall back if things keep up like this!" Mystery yelled.

XXXXX

Articuno found themselves directly in the path of a herd of very strong and angry Pokémon. They were quadruped, bovine Pokémon covered in light brown fur with a thick, darker brown mane around the neck. They had a rounded muzzle with a dark brown nose, and three gray bumps running vertically down their forehead and a pair of curved, gray horns atop their heads.

"Seriously, had to Tauros. Just had to be Tauros." Starky cried out.

"What's wrong with you?" Chase asked.

"Bad farming related accident involving Tauros." Starky admitted.

The wild bull Pokémon were all just charging all over the place wildly using take down and rage. The attacks were wild and missing everything but it was the number of Tauros that made things difficult.

"Cris hit that herd with inferno!" Wendy ordered.

Vulpix's body became engulfed in blue flames as an orb of light blue fire formed in front of its mouth. Vulpix then fired a spiralling stream of light blue fire with rings of dark blue fire from the orb at the herd.

The inferno struck the Tauros at the head of the herd halting their progress. As Vulpix attacked a Miltank snuck up on the small Pokémon and attempted to stomp it.

"Crobat, Acrobatics save Vulpix!" Alex shouted.

Crobat became outline in faint purple energy as it dove out of the sky with such speed that it left behind afterimages. Crobat drove itself into the attacking Miltank once knocking it off balance, then a second time knocking it down and a third time knocking it out.

"Thanks for that." Wendy acknowledged.

"Get your heads straight. Domino probably knew this would happen. This is all part of the test." Aspen yelled. "Absol, future sight!"

Absol's eyes glowed red as it dodged a Tauros that was trying to gore it.

"Torchic, flame thrower!" Willow yelled.

Torchic opened its beak and unleashing a powerful stream of red-orange fire that burned the Tauros attacking Absol.

"Coulomb use thunder shock." Starky commanded.

Yellow sparks appeared around Mareep's ears before it fired a blast of light blue electricity from the wool on its body at a Tauros. The electric attack only seemed to make the Tauros madder.

"Is that the only move you can use?" Chase panicked as the Tauros approached them.

A strong wind cut across the battle field and a sphere of rainbow coloured energy appeared out of nowhere and blasted the Tauros.

"You're welcome." Aspen smirked.

"Crobat, air slash!" Alex shouted. "We're going to have to consider the smart option here."

Crobat's wings glowed light blue and it crossed them in front of its body. It then opened them up quickly; releasing multiple light blue glowing disc-like energy blades from its wings at the Tauros.

"I hate saying it but a strategic withdrawal might be in order." Wendy cursed.

XXXXX 

"What the hell is this?" Michel exclaimed as another Pokémon joined the Miltank in fighting them.

It was a large, wingless, three-headed avian Pokémon. Each head had a long, sharp beak and a black feathered, V-shaped crest. It had bristly brown feathers covering its heads and upper body, while its lower half had a smooth layer of black feathers. Its wingless body rested on two long and slender, but powerful legs.

"It's obvious they raise more than Miltank on this farm. They have Dodrio as well." Comet scoffed.

"Brick break!" Michel yelled.

Raichu responded and leapt up before it karate chopped a Miltank.

"Infernape, use fire spin to trap the Dodrio." Comet ordered.

Light red energy flickered of Infernape and its flame grew fiercer. Its eyes then glowed red and it opened it mouth releasing a flame at the Dodrio. When the flame hit the ground, it turned into a fiery tornado that trapped three Dodrio.

Coming in from Infernape's blind spot, a Dodrio jumped into the air and landed on the fire/fighting Pokémon while bringing its three heads forward as its beaks started spinning like drills.

"Togekiss, assist Infernape, sky attack." Tess yelled.

While in the air, Togekiss's body became surrounded by a white aura as it held its altitude, gathering energy. Togekiss launched itself at Dodrio from high in the sky. As it flew, the jubilee Pokémon left a white trail of energy behind it. Togekiss collided with the Dodrio knocking it off Infernape and sending it flying.

"Golem, double edge!" Cassandra commanded as they found themselves over run with fast moving Dodrio.

Golem charged the three head Pokémon as it became outlined in white energy. Golem then slammed itself into two of the Dodrio taking them out.

"Farrah, do some damage with psyshock." Cinzia ordered.

Clefable jumped into the air and placed its arms out in front of it. It then formed a mass of thick blue and purple energy which it fired a Miltank that was helping a Dodrio. When it struck it pushed the Pokémon back before exploding.

"Typhlosion, use lava plume!" Frizza shouted as Typhlosion was surrounded by Miltank and Dodrio.

Typhlosion caused an explosion around itself, creating a mix of smog and fire that covered the immediate area and hit the Miltank and Dodrio with flames.

"This isn't working out. We're being overrun by the number of Dodrio." Tess shouted.

"We need to form a circle and cover each other's backs." Frizza shouted.

"Frizza, Comet, use your fire Pokémon to cover the rear." Michel pleaded.

"I'm on it." Frizza took up her position.

"This is nonsense." Comet exclaimed.

Tess, Cassandra, Cinzia and Michel didn't hear Comet and continued to fight the front line. Comet ignored the formation and fought by himself leaving a gap that a lone Dodrio exploited.

Dodrio opened its beaks and positioned its heads so each beak became a corner in the shape of a triangle. An orb of energy then formed inside Dodrio's beaks, the right one coloured green, the top one indigo and the left one red. A red triangle then forms in between the orbs. When the triangle turned to gold, Dodrio fired the triangle.

"Cassandra, watch out!" Frizza shouted as the tri attack flew towards her..

Cassandra side stepped and the tri attack missed but blasted the ground next to her resulting in an explosion that tossed her like a rag doll.

Comet saw this and ordered his Infernape to take out the Dodrio with hyper beam.

"Tess, Cinzia, Frizza, cover our escape. We're retreating!" Michel shouted as he helped a disorientated Cassandra up.

"We can't. We don't have enough Miltank to be sure of victory." Tess yelled.

"Victory will mean nothing if we end up dying at the hands of these Pokémon." Frizza screamed.

"I'll help cover. Get Cassandra out the pasture and we'll follow!" Comet gritted his teeth.

Tess and Cinzia nodded as they saw that Cassandra took a nasty knock from the tri attack.

XXXXX

**Next week, the results of this little assignment. A reward for the winners and a punishment for the losers. **


	8. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the unexpected delay. Things are getting really hectic and my writing time has become significantly reduced. I'll try and write as much as I can, when I can. **

**Chapter 6**

The teams gathered in the gymnasium as they always did when they were meeting with Domino. They had handed their pokeballs with the Miltank over to men in lab coats and answered several questions about what had happened.

The blonde rocket executive had a disgusted look on her face as she looked at a document with the results of the captures.

Moltres was currently short a member as Cassandra was in the infirmary receiving attention.

"These results are pathetic. I was expecting so much more from you all. So much more." Domino shouted.

"You failed to warn us that there would be complications." Aspen spoke up.

"Like angry, vicious Dodrio." Michel yelled.

"Or rampaging Tauros." Starky complained.

"And the highly trained Ampharos." Rick added.

"Boo hoo, cry me a river, did you expect every single one of your assignments to be cake walks. You're being trained here for the real thing. That farm was nothing compared to missions you will be expected to take on when you're an executive like me." Domino retorted.

"Can we just have the results?" Hershel asked annoyed with how dirty he had become from the pasture.

"Zapdos won, Moltres lost. I'm not even going to go into how pathetic the results are." Domino scoffed.

Zapdos erupted with cheers while Moltres silently blamed each other.

"You said we get a reward, what's our reward?" Giles questioned.

"Moltres, as punishment for coming in last, you will be docked 25% of all rations that we give you. That's food, water, electricity, potions, everything." Domino glared at Moltres.

"That doesn't really answer our question." Mystery noted.

"As your prize Zapdos, you will be receiving the rations we are docking from Moltres. So what they're losing, you will be gaining." Domino explained.

"Not only do we get more stuff, but it weakens our competitors at the same time." Rick laughed.

"We're already under the gun with Cassandra being hurt, now this." Frizza spoke up.

"That's not my problem. You people will have to face the consequences for your loss." Domino responded. "And everyone is going to face the consequences for this pathetic display."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex questioned.

"When you returned and handed in your pokeballs we questioned each of you individually on what happened in the field." Domino began.

"Oh yeah, the performance evaluations." Willow nodded.

"From Moltres, Comet and Michel. From Articuno Starky and Chase. From Zapdos Rick and Giles. You six have been identified as the reason for team performing so badly. Tomorrow the six of you will be tested and those who fail… Let's just say you don't want to fail." Domino finished before leaving.

XXXXX

"What the hell did you guys say?" Giles demanded to know.

Hershel and Sanus were shell-shocked and had no response. The three had decided to secretly meet at the Star Academy library after the meeting with Domino.

"I didn't say anything bad about you; in fact I didn't say anything bad about anyone." Sanus replied.

"I tore into Rick; I bad mouthed him from here to kingdom come." Hershel admitted.

"Then Rick or Mystery must have called me out as the weak link." Giles theorised.

"Domino was pissed off at the results. I think she's going to take it out on the six of you tomorrow." Sanus warned.

"Yeah, that's what I would do if I was her. Make an example so the others know what to expect if they mess up." Hershel nodded.

"In the case if she asks the rest of the team to pick a person, I can count you guys' right?" Giles asked.

"Off course, this haphazard alliance is my ticket to success." Hershel smirked.

"I gave you my word that I would be throwing my hat in with you and I'll keep it." Sanus replied.

XXXXX

"Those three are gone off somewhere probably discussing tomorrow." Rick sighed as he waited for his toast to get done.

"They think they're so smooth in their alliance." Mystery laughed.

"We're stuck here on the outs." Rick nodded.

"Whatever Domino is going to throw at you tomorrow is going to be hellish." Mystery lamented.

"I'm not scared. I came here prepared for anything. If you guys feel that I was a liability on that assignment then I'm going to use tomorrow to prove that I can be an asset." Rick declared.

"I don't know how they fingered you and Giles as the weak links. I don't remember saying anything negative about anyone." Mystery admitted.

"It was probably in the way they phrased the questions, they made us identify who was the problem without actually saying it." Rick speculated.

"With Domino, that's a real possibility. Anyway, best of luck tomorrow, beat that alliance." Mystery smiled.

XXXXX

"I called for us to withdraw and now everyone thinks I'm a weakness to the team." Michel cursed.

"At the time it seemed like the right thing to do." Frizza empathized.

The two were wandering around the school grounds under the cover of night so as not to be seen.

"I'm screwed; things are not going to work out like this." Michel muttered.

"You're forgetting about Comet, the others must have mentioned how he messed up." Frizza pointed out.

"Domino might not see it that way; he was under no obligation to follow my half baked orders." Michel sighed.

"Things are really going to go downhill tomorrow. I have a feeling we're going to see Domino's full wrath." Frizza gulped.

"My only hope is to somehow throw Comet under the bus." Michel admitted.

"Are you sure? Before this whole thing we were considering letting him in on our plans." Frizza questioned.

"There's no way we'd be able to bring Comet into the fold. He is too independent." Michel mumbled.

"So you're saying that I'm not independent." Frizza questioned.

"Now's not the time for nonsense." Michel scoffed.

XXXXX

Tess and Cinzia went through all the supplies in the kitchen trying to figure out how much of an impact the reduction in their supplies will have on them.

"You know whose fault this thing really is." Comet said entering.

"Yours for not staying in formation." Tess answered.

"I was just about to say the same thing." Cinzia nodded.

"It's Michel's fault." Comet replied.

"I wasn't very pleased with the decision to pull out but he and Frizza were leaving and Cassandra was out. The three of us wouldn't have stood a chance." Tess cursed.

"No, the decision to withdraw was right in the circumstances. Cassandra needed help." Cinzia sighed.

"I agree with you both but you're missing the point. We were forced into that position because Michel tried to be our leader and order us around. If he had just left each of us to do everything on our own we would have been fine." Comet explained.

"When you explain it like that it actually makes sense. Michel has been trying to establish leadership since day one." Tess agreed.

"You're doing a pretty good job of taking the heat of yourself." Cinzia complimented.

"I just want you guys to remember all this tomorrow in case this becomes a problem that needs to be decided by the entire team." Comet said.

"Like a vote at tribal council." Tess laughed.

XXXX

The entire Articuno team met in the lounge area of their dorm. There were no secret meetings, no whispering behind each other's back. The team had come to an understanding during the chaos in the pasture. An unusual but firm bond was formed in that pandemonium.

"I get it, I know why I caused us to lose, I don't have any Pokémon. I love Pokémon but I've never owned any. I'm a thinker not a fighter. Give me a puzzle to solve and I'm your man." Chase lamented.

"If I was a better trainer, Coulomb would have been strong enough to help out more and we would have won." Starky apologized.

"You two are not solely to blame. We handed in more pokeballs then Zapdos, we should have won but unfortunately some of those pokeballs contained Tauros and not Miltank." Alex sighed.

"How do you know that?" Willow asked.

"Alex is a peeping tom who asked me to distract Domino so he could steal a look at the results." Wendy answered.

"Just as long as you're not peeping in the showers." Aspen joked.

"Oh he does." Starky added.

The mood in Articuno temporarily lifted as they all laughed.

"Tomorrow is going to be really messed up." Wendy gritted her teeth.

"This team had just managed to find some kind of harmony and Mew only knows what will happen tomorrow." Willow muttered.

"Domino might get rid of us tomorrow." Starky gulped.

"There's no way she'd get rid of the both of us. In all likelihood, one person from each team might be going." Chase hypothesized.

"Domino likes games, she might make you compete and the loser will have to leave." Aspen added.

"That's one thing, or she could ask us to choose." Alex mumbled.

"I wouldn't know who to pick." Wendy said.

"No offensive but I'd vote off Chase, sorry but no Pokémon." Willow admitted.

"I've still got a lot more to show you guys, my Pokémon are young but you saw Coulomb, Coulomb has so much potential. All my Pokémon do." Starky declared.

"That's nice, what about you Chase. Anything to say in your favour." Wendy asked.

"I have nothing to say, it very much appears that being a skilled Pokémon trainer will play a big role in everything from here out. If it appears that way tomorrow then I won't blame you guys for keeping Starky and getting rid of me." Chase spoke.

"Wow, that's actually pretty noble." Alex mumbled.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, we should all try to keep Articuno intact. I'm willing to bet the other teams aren't this united." Aspen cheered.

XXXXX

The three teams assembled on the track field as instructed by Domino. Comet, Michel, Starky, Chase, Rick and Giles stood in front of their respective teams ready to take on whatever Domino had in store for them.

"Sometimes when you're a member in Team Rocket you're forced to make the hard decisions and bear the consequences of those decisions." Domino explained.

Her words filled the recruits with ominous nerves as they anticipated the worst.

"Each team is going to pick the person you feel should stay, it's that simple. So now, stand by the person you want to stay." Domino explained.

Sanus and Hershel stood alongside Giles while Mystery walked up to Rick. Frizza stood by Michel while Cinzia and Tess joined Comet. Articuno moved in complete sync, Alex, Willow, Wendy, Aspen and even Chase walked to Starky.

"Chase, do you understand what you're doing?" Domino asked.

"These people, we're a team. I can't call them my friends yet but being part of a team means doing what's right for the team. The way things appear to be going, I won't be able to help them much." Chase explained.

"Do you all feel that way about team work?" Domino questioned.

"It was in the middle of the chaos in the pasture. We were able to reach an unspoken understanding that being a team was better than six individuals." Alex answered.

"There's always some strength to be found in unity." Willow said.

"I like those answers. Articuno will remain intact but as for the other teams, you will lose someone." Domino spoke.

"So you're saying all we had to do is have someone willing to leave and everyone stand together and then we could have avoided this whole thing?" Hershel complained.

"There's no way Moltres or us could have pulled that off. None of us would have been willing to walk away." Mystery explained.

"So what's going to happen now?" Michel questioned.

"It's simply, Tess and Cinzia will battle Frizza, Sanus and Hershel will battle Mystery. Whoever wins will get to keep the team member they picked.

"There's no way this can be settle like that? Two on one will be impossible odds." Rick yelled.

Domino was irked by Rick's outburst and it was clearly visible on her face.

"That's just the way it works but I'll make things interesting. Tess and Cinzia will team up with Sanus and Hershel to face Frizza and Mystery." Domino declared as punishment.

XXXXX

Hershel, Sanus, Tess and Cinzia stood across the track field from Mystery and Frizza. Articuno sat in the stands watching the battle unfold while Michel, Comet, Giles and Rick remained on the sidelines of the battle.

Hershel had decided to go with his Scizor while Sanus was with Lucario. Tess and Cinzia went with Rhyhorn and Skarmory respectively.

Frizza had her Mightyena and Mystery choose her Jolteon.

"We'll handle Mystery and you two take on Frizza." Tess suggested.

"That's fine by me." Hershel nodded.

"A more effective strategy would be to attack all at once and just overwhelm them with power." Sanus spoke up.

"The guy wearing the tracksuit it right, we can end this battle quickly and get things over with." Cinzia agreed.

"I'm fine with that, I wanted to enjoy a battle but if you guys want to end this quickly so be it." Tess sighed.

"I guess quick and effortless would be best." Hershel acknowledged.

Domino raised her hand signalling for the battle to begin.

"Rhyhorn, drill run." Tess ordered.

The spikes Pokémon glowed with white energy as it charged. The spiny protrusions on its body glowed brighter than the rest of it as Rhyhorn leapt and began rotating while launching itself like a rocket.

"Torre hit them with iron head." Cinzia shouted.

The armour bird Pokémon flew up into the air and it body became surrounded by a white aura, making it seem black and white, as it dove down.

"Scizor, use X-Scissor." Hershel called out.

The pincer Pokémon's claws glowed green as it crossed its arms and charged.

"Lucario, attack with bone rush." Sanus yelled.

The aura Pokémon ran towards its opponents placing its paws together and spreading them apart, creating a light green bone of energy.

"Sparky, dodge then discharge." Mystery screamed.

"Mightyena, dodge then shadow ball." Frizza ordered.

The spirally Rhyhorn bore down on Jolteon and Mightyena but the lightning and bite Pokémon were able to dodge by separating. Jolteon's cheeks began releasing blue sparks as it prepared to unleash discharge but it was cut off by Skarmory slamming its head into it.

Scizor then sprung upon the shaken Jolteon and slashed in an X-like pattern striking the lightning Pokémon. A black ball formed in Mightyena's mouth. Lucario then closed in on Jolteon preparing to club it. The bite Pokémon closed its mouth over the black ball, releasing the ball at aura Pokémon knocking it away from Jolteon.

"They're concentrating on knocking us off one at a time." Frizza warned.

"I've already picked up on that." Mystery cursed.

"Mightyena, Snarl." Frizza ordered.

Mightyena jumped in front of Jolteon and unleashed a high pitched bark that echoed forward throughout the battle field affecting the opponent Pokémon and causing pain and discomfort.

"Sparky, hit Skarmory with thunderbolt!" Mystery shouted.

Jolteon became surrounded in sparks before releasing a bolt of lightning sky ward at Skarmory. The thunderbolt then changed direction mid air and flew to Rhyhorn which it struck to no effect.

"It appears my lighting rod has saved your Skarmory." Tess boasted.

"Torre, return the favour by using tailwind." Cinzia smirked.

Skarmory glowed bright white as it flapped it wings unleashing powerful winds that washed over Rhyhorn, Lucario and Scizor boosting their speed.

"Rhyhorn, dig." Tess laughed.

The spikes Pokémon then burrowed underground leaving Jolteon and Mightyena clueless.

"Scizor, use metal claw." Hershel commanded.

"Time for close combat." Sanus yelled.

With tailwind boosting their already incredible speed, Lucario and Scizor were on Mightyena and Jolteon in a flash. The aura Pokémon then unleashed a severe series of kicks to Mightyena before brushing past it and punching Jolteon into submission.

The pincer Pokémon the knocked the bite Pokémon to ground with its glowing white claw before slashing Jolteon and knocking it down next to Mightyena.

"You have to get up!" Frizza shouted.

"Come on Sparky!" Mystery screamed.

The ground beneath the two Pokémon erupted as Rhyhorn burst out of the ground delivering the final blow.

Skarmory's beak began to glow while it hovered in the sky. The armour bird Pokémon's beak then started spinning as it activated its drill peck and descended from the sky determined on adding to the two beaten Pokémon's injuries.

Before Skarmory could connect with the attack it was blasted by a powerful cannon of water that came from the side of the field which caused it go crashing into the ground.

"I'm sorry for doing that but the match was already over." Michel said with his Poliwrath in front of him.

"You managed to beat me to the punch." Rick sighed as his Golbat flew above him.

"I guess the match is over, your winners Hershel, Sanus, Tess and Cinzia." Domino announced.

Mystery and Frizza checked up on their Pokémon and were relieved that the injuries were just superficially and would only take a day or two to heal.

The winners then joined the people they were supporting as they recalled their Pokémon.

"You guys fought well, the odds were too heavily stacked up against you guys." Michel lamented as he walked over to Frizza and Mystery.

"Everyone gather in the gymnasium, Moltres and Zapdos are about to lose a member." Domino declared as she walked away.


End file.
